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DOUBLE ACROSTIC 

ENIGMAS, 

WITH 

POETICAL DESCRIPTIONS 

j^eltctcir principalis frwn ^ritist Itots. 



MRS. 


ALEXANDER 

LONDON 


GOKDON. 
i * 




1866. 


i 



.at- 



CASSELL, PETTEK, AND GALPIN, BELLE SADVAGE WORKS, 
LTJDGATE HILL, E.C. 



205449 
'13 



PREFACE 



In offering this little volume to my friends, I have 
to remark that the poetry at the head of each 
Acrostic is intended to indicate, more or less 
clearly, the words to be sought for ; as, for in- 
stance, in No. I., u Queen Victoria," " Royal 
Children." I have quoted from Longfellow, 
Tennyson, Tom Taylor, Dale, C. Tayler, A. 
Smith, &c. &c, and other of our best British 
poets — in some instances from memory ; there- 
fore the quotations may not always be ver- 
batim. Having been obliged to take the names 
of towns, rivers, &c.$ : \some of which may be 
little known, I have added at the end of the 
volume a geographical list of all those referred 
to, which will, I hope, remove any difficulty in 
filling up the Acrostics. Any profits from the 
publication will be devoted to the " Brompton 

Hospital for Consumption." 

Kate Gordon. 



Hamble-le-Eice, Southampton. 
March, 1866. 



DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 



" Now, 'mid the glory that surrounds her name, 
Long may Victoria, like the Roman dame, 
Read in those features that reflect her own 
The only gems that can enrich her throne ! 
Long may her children, nurtured for renown, 
Delight the Nation and adorn the Crown ! " 

1. A musical note. 

2. A town of Naples. 

3. Living on charity. 

4. A river of Spain. 

5. Pertaining to sailors. 

6. An order of valour. 

7. A measure of length. 

8. A people of Hyrcania. 

9. An excise of goods. 

10. An ancient space of time. 

11. A plunderer. 

12. An accidental circumstance. 

13. The general who commanded the 



Grecians at the siege of Troy. 



DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 



" Changes not so with us, my Skene, 
Of human life the varying scene 1 
Our youthful summer oft we see 
Dance by on wings of game and glee, 
While the dark storm reserves its rage, 
Against the winter of our age ; 
As he, the ancient chief of Troy, 
His manhood spent in peace and joy ; 
But Grecian fires, and loud alarms, 
Called ancient Priam forth to arms. 
Then happy those — since each must drain 
His share of pleasure, share of pain — 
Then happy those, beloved of heaven, 
To whom the mingled cup is given ; 
Whose lenient sorrows find relief, 
Whose joys are chastened by their grief." 

1. The doctrine of sounds. 

2. A departure. 

3. A town of Peru. 

4. A city, and county of itself. 

5. A funeral poem. 



DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 


3 


III. 

" The daisies peep from, every field, 




And violets sweet their odour yield ; 




The purple blossom paints the thorn, 




And streams reflect the blush of morn. 




" Let lusty Labour drop his flail, 




Nor woodman's hook a tree assail ; 




The ox shall cease his neck to bow, 




And Clodden yield to rest the plough. 




" Lo ! Sol looks down with radiant eye, 




And throws a smile around his sky ; 




Embracing hill, and vale, and stream, 




And warming Nature with his beam. 




" The insect tribes in myriads pour, 




And kiss with zephyr every flower ; 




And these our icy hearts reprove, 




And tell us we are foes to love ! 




Then, lads and lasses, all be gay, 




For this is Nature's holiday ! " 




1. A ray of light. 




2. A town of Sicily. 




3. The tooth of an elephant. 




4. Where the grass grows. 




5. An animal like a wolf. 




6. A dreadful event. 





B 2 



DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 



And ne'er did Grecian chisel trace 

A Nymph, a Naiad, or a Grace, 

Of finer form, or lovelier face ! 

A chieftain's daughter seemed the maid ; 

Her satin snood, her silken plaid, 

Her golden brooch, such birth betray'd. 

And seldom was a snood amid 

Such wild luxuriant ringlets hid, 

Whose glossy black to shame might bring 

The plumage of the raven's wing ; 

And seldom o'er a breast so fair 

Mantled a plaid with modest care ; 

And never brooch the folds combined 

Above a heart more good and kind. 

* * * * * * 

* * * * -a- -:<- 

The King's stout huntsman saw the sport, 
By strange intruder broken short, 
Came up, and with his leash unbound, 
In anger struck the noble hound." 

1. Full of incidents. 

"2. A town of France. 

3. A breakfast accompaniment. 

4. A stone of remembrance. 

5. A character in the " Pirate." 



DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 



THE SECOND DENOTES THE APPROACH OF 
THE FIRST. 

It comes ! it conies ! the clouds condensing swell, 
And, like a rushing cataract, downward pour 
A mass of prisoned waters ; as it fell 
A whirlwind swept the sea, and shook the shore ; 
While Ocean rose, and with reverbering roar 
Dashed its high billows o'er the rocky strand, 
Responsive to the thunder-peal, that tore 



The boundless firmament, while Death's dark band, 


Storm, Fire, Wind, Hail, went forth to work their 


Lord's command." 




1. The son of Raguel. 




2. One of the Muses. 




3. A German coin. 




4. A circular building. 




5. A mountain of Arabia. 


i 


6. One of Shakspeare's plays. 




7. An industrious insect. 


■ 


8. An organ of sensation. 




9. A pretty and useful berry. 





1 
6 


DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 




VI. 


OFTEN 


A TROUBLE TO BRITISH YOUTH, 


" The spur is powerful, and I grant its force ; 


It prick 


s the genius forward in its course, 


Allows short time for play, none for sloth ! " 


1. 


An important office in London, an in- 




ferior one in the country. 


2. 


A precious stone. 


3. 


A national force. 


4. 


A wanderer on earth. 


5. 


A city on the Dead Sea. 


6. 


A modern poet. 


7. 


A rich and valuable country. 


8. 


A movable habitation. 


9. 


A pronoun repeated. 


10. 


An ill-tempered woman. 


11. 


A pleasant style of journey. 



DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 



VII. 



THE FIRST WAS RESTORED IN THE SECOND 
IN 1865. 

"With that at Charing- cross, she sunk into 
the ground alive, 
And after rose with life again in London, at 
Queenhive." 

1. Different from other people. 

2. To start forth. 

3. A point of time. 

4. An officer employed in the regulation 

of cloth manufactures. 

5. A fortified town of Italy. 

6. The king of the fairies. 

7. A trinket: 

8. A sick person. 

9. Part of the woodwork of a house. 

10. A lake in North America. 

11. Found inside the great Pyramid of 



Egypt. 
1 2. Sea monsters. 



DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 



VIII. 

" Crowds of bees are giddy with clover, 

Crowds of grasshoppers skip at our feet ; 
Crowds of ants, when their work is over, 
Are thanking the Lord for a life so sweet. 

1. Potashes used in making glass. 

2. Disturbance of mind. 

3. A spy. 

4. The goddess of health. 

IX. 

" Oh! that the chemist's magic art 

Could crystallise this sacred treasure ! 
Long should it glitter near my heart, 
A secret source of pensive pleasure. 

" The little brilliant, ere it fell, 

Its lustre caught from Chioe's eye ; 
Then, trembling, left its coral cell, 
The spring of sensibility. 

" The sage's and the poet's theme, 
In every clime, in every age ; 
Thou charm'st in Fancy's idle dream, 
In reason's philosophic page." 

1. Neither hot nor cold. 

2. The residence of a witch . 

3. An animal like a small pig. 

4. A rough file. 



DOUBLE ACFOSTICS. 



" Such is the aspect of this shore, 
'Tis Greece — but living Greece no more ! 
So coldly sweet, so deadly fair, 
We start — for soul is wanting there ; 
Hers is the loveliness in death, 
That parts not quite with parting breath, 
But beauty with that fearful bloom, 
That hue, which haunts it to the tomb ; 
Expression's last receding ray, 
A gilded halo hovering round decay, 
The farewell beam of feeling past away !" 

1. Ornaments of stone. 

2. A useful article iu a boat. 

3. A melancholy ditty. 

4. The title of a Roman magistrate. 

5. Directions in books of prayer and 

law. 

6. A disagreeable dream. 



10 DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 



V XI. 

A POET, AND ONE OF HIS POEMS. 
Ye who believe in affection that hopes, and 

endures, and is patient, 
Ye who believe in the beauty and strength of 

woman's devotion, 
List to the mournful tradition still sung by the 

pines of the forest ; 
List to a tale of love in Acadie, home of the 

happy." 

1. An Evangelist. 

2. An old town of European Russia, on 

the Dnieper. 

3. A large island in the Arctic Ocean, 

only inhabited by wild beasts. 

4. Lace of silver, gold, or silk. 

5. A small animal of the amphibious kind. 

6. The name of the poem. 

7. A leguminous plant. 

8. A blue stone. 

9. A discourse. 

10. A noted preacher. 



DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 1 I 



XII. 

" The lopped tree in time may grow again, 

Most naked plants renew both fruit and flower ; 
The sorriest wight may find release of pain, 

The driest soil suck in some moistening shower ; 
Time goes by turns, and chances change by course, 
From foul to fair, from better hap to worse. 

" The sea of fortune doth not ever flo^ ; 

She draws her favours to the lowest ebb : 
Her tides have equal times to come and go • 

Her loom doth weave the fine and coarsest web 
No joy is great but runneth to an end, 
No hap so hard, but may in time amend ! " 

1. Sour. 

2. A mountainous district of Austrian 
Dalmatia. 

3 Deranged. 

4. To send abroad. 



12 DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 



XIII. 

" Three sisters fair, of charms so rare, 
As Paris might himself perplex : 
Whose form and face his choice shall grace, 
The paragon of all her sex ? 

" And while they seem, to fancy's dream, 
Three goddesses like those of yore ; 
He deems himself, conceited elf ! 
The Paris of that festive floor. 

" Which shall the golden treasure win, 
Where charms so nearly balanced are ? 
He hesitates ; a lord steps in, 
And claims the fairest of the fair ! 

"In vain, in vain, the sisters twain 
Are by the would-be hero sought ; 
Both say him nay ; he turns away, 
A sad but useful lesson taught." 

1. The goddess of fire. 

2. Inequality of margin. 

3. A village of Holland. 

4. A general total. 

5. A savoury composition. 



DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 13 



XIV. 

" Hail to thee, blithe spirit ! 
Bird thou never wert, 
That from heaven or near it, 

Pourest thy full heart 
In profuse strains of unpremeditated art. 

" All the earth and air 
With thy voice is loud 
As, when night is bare, 

From one lonely cloud 
The moon rains out her beams, and heaven 
is overflowed. 

" What thou art, we know not ; 
What is most like thee % 
From rainbow-clouds there flow not 

Drops so bright to see, 
As from thy presence showers a rain of 
melody." 

1. A summer bird. 



3. 

4. 

5. 


A town of Spain. 

A celebrated essayist and poet, 

nineteenth century. 
A balloon. 


6. 


A noted tragedian, translator of 




Lucan's "Pharsalia." 


7. 


A watching attendant. 



14 DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 



XV. 

CATHEDRAL TOWN, AND WHAT IT IS 
FAMOUS FOR 

" Gay hope is theirs by fancy fed, 

Less pleasing when possessed ; 
The tear forgot as soon as shed, 

The sunshine of the breast, 
Their buxom health of rosy hue, 
Wild wit, invention ever new, 

And lively cheer of vigour born, 
The thoughtless day, the easy night, 
The spirits pure, the slumbers light, 

That fly the approach of morn." 

1. A sea-port of Ireland. 

2. A town of Poland, remarkable for its 

silver mines. 

3. Part of a church. 

4. A King of France. 

5. A languid exclamation. 

6. Beyond the course of the law. 

7. Inactive. 

8. An old title of honour. 

9. A town near London. 
10. Distant, 



DOUBLE ACEOSTICS. 



15 



XVI. 

" Build me straight, 0, worthy master ! 
Stanch and strong, a goodly vessel, 
That shall laugh at all disaster, 

And with wave and whirlwind wrestle !" 

" The merchant's word, 
Delighted the master heard ; 
For his heart was in his work, and 

the heart 
Giveth grace to every Art. 

" He answered, ' Ere long we will launch 
A vessel as goodly, and strong, and stanch, 
As ever weathered a wintry sea.' 
And first, with nicest skill and art, 
Perfect and finished in every part, 
A little model the master wrought, 
Which should be the larger plan 
What the child is to the man, 
Its counterpart in miniature." 

1. A celebrated general in the time of 

Justinian. 

2. A small vegetable garden root. 

3. A town of Mexico. 

4. A tattler. 



16 DOUBLE ACEOSTICS. 



XVII. 

" Theke, the merry blacksmith plies 
His sturdy strength to wondering eyes, 
Ringing, ringing, bravely ringing, 
Up and down his hammer swinging, 
Fiery jets about him flinging. 

" There, at pleasant hours of even, 

Sober, cool, and grey, 
When the church-clock striking seven, 

Gives the green to play, 
White-haired gossipers are gathered 

Round the smithy door, 
Where no waiting horse is tethered, 

And the anvil's clink is o'er ; 

" Cooled the forge's fitful heat, 
Hushed the hammer's measured beat, 
All day ringing, bravely ringing 
To the sturdy forgeman's swinging, 
Fiery jets about him flinging." 

1 . The ruler of Persia. 

2. A delicious Indian fruit. 

3. A superintendent. 

4. The first Greek pastoral poet. 

5. The goddess of youth. 

6. Necessary to the masts of a ship. 



DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 17 

XVIII. 

" His kirtle, made of forest green, 

Reached scantly to his knee ; 
And at his belt, of arrows keen, 

A furbished sheaf bore he ; 
His buckler scarce in breadth a span, 

No longer fence had he ; 
He never counted him a man 

Would strike below the knee. 
Well could he hit a fallow deer 

Five hundred feet him fro ; 
With hand more true, and eye more clear 

No archer bended bow." 

1. Nocturnal wandering musicians. 

2. To arch. 

3. A large river of Chili. 

4. A cord used to fire guns with. 

5. A town of Switzerland. 

6. The Assyrian Yenus. 

7. An officer in the army. 

8. An ornamental bunch of silk. 

9. An obscure question. 
10 v A military force. 

11. A noted explorer in the East. 



IS DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 



XIX. 
AN ANCIENT KING. 
" Within the walls was raised a lofty mound 
Where flowers and aromatic shrubs adorned 
The pensile garden. For Nebassar's queen 
Fatigued with Babylonia's level plains, 
Sighed for her Median home, where Nature's 

hand 
Had scooped the vales, and clothed the moun- 
tain side 
With many a verdant wood." 

1. A very inflammable fluid. 

2. A wild stag. 

3. Robbers. 

4. A figure of eleven sides. 

5. A rock. 

6. A small town of Aberdeenshire. 

7. A village of Wirtemberg. 

8. A small fish. 

9. An important country of Africa. 

10. Decay. 

11. A celebrated pope in 741. 

12. Great ardour. 

1 3. Gay and lively. 

14. Jacob's eldest son. 



DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 19 



XX. 

A HEEO, AND ONE OF THE HEROINES OF A 
ROMANCE. 

" He sleeps," she said. " Alas ! is it a crime that I 
should look upon him, when it may be for the last 
time? When yet but a short space, and those fair 
features will be no longer animated by the bold and 
buoyant spirit which forsakes them not even in sleep ! 
And my father ! Oh, my father ! evil is it with his 
daughter, when his grey hairs are not remembered 
because of the golden locks of youth !" 

1 . A deceiver. 

2. A staff of office. 

3. One of the Nethinims. 

4. An ancient gold coin. 

5. A fanciful person. 

6. A town of Trance. 

7. A river of Spain. 



c 2 



20 DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 



XXI. 

" A ball ! a ball ! a children's ball ! 
The gayest of the gay ; 
The fears, the cares, the sorrows all, 
That after on the spirit fall, 
As yet are far away. 

" And many loving hearts beat high 
With fond maternal pride, 
As their own lovely ones float by, 
Borne on the sound of minstrelsy, 
Like lilies on the tide. 

" And ardent are the hopes they frame 

For the glad girl or boy ; 
For each a bright undying name, 
Green laurels from the wreath of fame 

Draughts from the cup of joy ! " 

1. A mathematical scheme. 

2. A son of Aaron. 

3. A pretty shell-fish. 

4. A river of South America. 

5. A quack. 



DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 21 



XXII. 
A POET, AND ONE OF HIS WORKS. 
" Itst yonder grave a Druid lies, 

Where slowly winds the stealing wave, 
The year's best sweets shall duteous rise, 
To deck its poet's sylvan grave ! 

" In yon deep bed of whispering reeds 
His airy harp shall now be laid, 
That he, whose heart in sorrow bleeds, 
May love through life the soothing shade. 

'"The genial meads, assign' d to bless 

Thy life, shall mourn thy early doom ; 
Their hinds and shepherd girls shall dress, 
With simple hands thy rural tomb. 

" Long, long, thy stone and pointed clay 
Shall melt the musing Briton's eyes ; 
' ! vales and wild woods,' shall he say, 
' In yonder grave your Druid lies ! ' ' 

1. The first Greek astronomer. 

2. The Christmas flower. 

3. A large lake of European Russia. 

4. A fen. 

5. The birthplace of Apelles. 

6. A village of Northumberland. 

7. A common law term. 



22 DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 



XXIII. 

" Still young and fine, but what is still in view 
We slight as old and soil'd, though fresh and new. 
How bright wert thou when Shem's admiring eye 
Thy burnish'd flaming arch did first descry ; 
And with intentive looks watch'd every hour 
For thy new light, and trembled at each shower ! 
When thou dost shine, darkness looks white and 

fair : 
Forms turn to music, clouds to smiles and air ; 
Rain gently spends his honey-drops, and pours 
Balm on the cleft earth, milk on grass and flower's. 
Bright pledge of peace and sunshine, the sure tie 
Of thy Lord's hand, the object of his eye ! 
When I behold thee, though thy light be dim, 
Distinct, and low, I can in thine see Him, 
Who looks upon thee from his glorious throne, 
And minds the covenant betwixt all and One." 

1. To spring. 

2. A soft white marble. 

3. A plant used for dyeing. 

4. A sea-port of India, near Tanjore. 

5. A town of Leta. 

6. Wild revels. 

7. A sign of age. 



DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 23 



XXIV. 

" O, roving muse ! recall that wondrous year 
When winter reigned in bleak Britannia's air ! 
The waterman, forlorn, along the shore, 
Pensive reclines upon his useless oar : 
See harnessed steeds desert the stony town, 
And wander roads unstable, not their own ; 
Wheels o'er the hardened water smoothly glide, 
And raze with whitened tracks the slippery tide ; 
Here the fat cook piles high the blazing fire, 
And scarce the spit can turn the steer entire ; 
Booths hide the river then, long streets appear, 
And numerous games proclaim the crowded fair. 
So, when a general bids the martial train 
Spread their encampment o'er the spacious plain, 
Thick-rising tents a canvas city build, 
And the loud dice resound through all the field." 



-& A 



1. The power of congelation. 

2. A patriarch's wife. 

3. An ancient town of Greece. 

4. A race of giants. 

5. A message under cover. 

6. Some pointed rocks on the English coast. 



24 DOUBLE ACEOSTICS. 



XXV. 

"A lovely flower, at morning hour, 
Bloomed sweetly on its parent stem ; 
But ere the day had died away, 
I saw no more the beauteous gem. 
Yet it had promis'd fair to view, 
For 'midst the storms its branches grew ; 
It was the earliest flower of spring, 
The first of all its blossoming. 
But now untimely nipt it lies, 

Its every promise lost for ever ; 
And all the dewdrops from the skies 
3Iay fall, but can revive it never." 

1. A stick used as a weapon. 

2. An instrument for writing without 

ink. 

3. A town of Buenos Ayres. 

4. A small island of Orkney. 

5. Anything very disagreeable. 

6. A cannoneer. 



DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 25 



XXVI. 

" From slender vase 
A willing youth presents to each in turn 
A sweet and costly perfume ; while the bowl, 
Emblem of joy and social mirth, stands by, 
Filled to the brim ; another pours out wine 
Of most delicious flavour, breathing round 
Fragrance of flowers, and honey newly made, 
So grateful to the sense, that none refuse ; 
While odoriferous gums fill all the room. 
Water is served, too, cold, and fresh, and clear ; 
Bread, saffron-tinged, that looks like beams of 

gold. 
The board is gaily spread with honey pure 
And savoury cheese." 

1. Mental trouble. 
2 V A deep hollow pass. 

3. A province of Spain. 

4. Ancient rulers. 

5. A champion. 



26 DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 



XXVII. 

A WORK, AND THE AUTHORESS. 
" The treasures of antiquity laid up 
In old historic rolls she opened." 

1. A medicinal bitter. 

2. Useless. 

3. An imprecation of evil. 

4. The ceremonial of good manners, 
o. One who sees best at night. 

6. A general view. 

7. One who is expelled. 

8. A kindness granted. 

9. A town of Persia, built of reeds. 

10. Modern. 

11. One exposed to public view. 

12. A short quiet after a storm. 

13. An Egyptian plant used for dyeing. 

14. A treaty of business. 

15. Insidious and false. 



DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 27 

XXVIII. 
TWO COUNTRIES. 
" The largest heaps of treasured wealth. 
Cannot restore declining health ; 
They cannot bribe the sun to stay 
And mitigate his burning ray." 

1 . A particular kind of letter. 

2. Formerly a large city, now only a 

small village. 

3. A statesman, present day. 

4. An overflow of water. 

5. The quarter of the globe where the 

countries are situated. 



XXIX. 

PATRIOT, AND HIS COUNTRY. 

1. An old castle, which gives the 

name to a romance. 

2. A town of Silesia. 

3. The wisest of men. 

4. A thin slice. 

5. One of the titles of Juno. 

6. A river of Switzerland. 

7. An eminent astronomer. 



28 DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 

XXX. 

A CONVERT. 

" Oh, why are the loud harps of seraphs resounding, 
Sweet music of joy through the bright realms 
above ? 
And the choir of the ransom'd in transport 
responding 
New anthems of praise to the God of their love 1 

" Oh, marvel no more why, with angels consenting, 
The saints to their Lord songs of rapture 
should raise ; 
They gaze from their thrones on a sinner repenting, 
And wake to fresh transports of wonder and 
praise." 

1. Relates to colours or music. 

2. A small bone. 

3. A French dance. 

4. A texture woven with meshes. 

5. A town of Austria. 

6. A lazy body. 

7. A small trading town of European 

Turkey. 

8. The top of a buckler. 

9. A planet. 



DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 29 



XXXI. 

A GRECIAN PHILOSOPHER.— A SPARTAX 
LAWGIVER. 



there, built on the solid base 



Of equal life, so well a temper'd state ; 

Where mix'd each government, in such just poise ; 

Each power so checking, and supporting, each, 

That firm for ages, and unmov'd, it stood, 

The fort of Greece ! without one giddy hour, 

One shock of faction, or of party-rage. 

For, drain' d the springs of wealth, corruption there 

Lay wither'd at the root." 

1. Refined. 

2. A dwarf. 

3. Eeal. 

4. A town of Genoa. 

5. An insurer. 

6. Noisy play. 

7. A city of Hindostan. 

8. The god of sleep. 



30 DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 



XXXII. 

John Trott was desired by two witty peers 
To tell them the reason why asses had ears ; 
1 An't please you,' quoth John, ' I'm not given 

to letters, 
Nor dare I pretend to know more than my 

betters ; 
Howe'er, from this time, I shall ne'er see your 

graces, 
As I hope to be saved ! without thinking on 

asses.' " 

1. A phosphorescent light. 

2. A village in Scotland, where the first 

church, north of the Tay, was established 
by Boniface. 

3. The capital of Phoenicia. 

4. A student in the law. 

5. Some Americans. 



FINE FEATHERS MAKE FINE BIRDS. 

1. A person connected with a law-suit. 

2. An incidental digression in a poem. 

3. A flowering shrub. 

4. A fight. 

5. A town of Hesse Darmstadt. 

6. The first Christian emperor. 

7. A beautiful small bird. 

8. A celebrated Queen of Assyria. 



DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 31 



XXXIV. 

A KING— ONE OF HIS HUNTING- SEATS. 

" What vails the vain kniglit-errant's brand ?- 
0, Douglas, for thy leading wand ! 
Fierce liandolph, for thy speed ! 
O, for one hour of Wallace wight, 
Or well-skilled Bruce, to rule the fight, 
And cry, ' Saint Andrew and our right !' 
Another sight had seen that morn, 
From fate's dark book a leaf been torn, 
And Flodden had been Bannock-bourne ! " 



1. An article of dress in the olden time. 

2. Help to astronomy. 

3. A cape on the frozen ocean. 

4. A priest. 

5. Begret for past actions. 

6. An upper garment. 

7. A martial goddess. 

8. The distinctive name of an English 

king. 

9. A small denomination of d umbers. 

10. A military designation. 

11. One of the Muses. 



32 DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 



XXXV. 
THE SECOND OFTEN PREVENTS THE FIRST. 
" Steadfast, serene, immovable, the same 

Year after year, through all the silent night, 
Burns on for evermore that quenchless flame — 

Shines on that inextinguishable light ! 
The startled waves leap over it ; the storm 

Smites it with all the scourges of the rain, 
And steadily against its solid form 

Press the great shoulders of the hurricane. 
' Sail on ! ' it says, e sail on, ye stately ships ! 

And with your floating bridge the ocean span ; i 
Be mine to guard this light from all eclipse, 
Be yours to bring man nearer unto man.' " 

1. A Jewish coin. 

2. A prophet. 

3. A disguise. 

4. An amusing publication. 

5. A judicial process. 

6. A beautiful Scripture character. 

7. One of the Muses. 

8. A town of Bohemia. 

9. A mark of regard. 



10. A hard substance. 



DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 33 



XXXVI. 

" As the Chameleon, who is known 
To have no colours of his own ; 
But borrows from his neighbours hue, 
His white, or black, or green, or blue ; 
And struts as much in ready light, 
Which credit gives him upon sight, 
As if the rainbow were in tail 
Settled on him and his heirs male." 

1. A small part of the body. 

2. A merry action. 

3. Inhabitants of a very hot part of the 

world. 

4. A musical instrument. 

5. A boy's plaything. 



34 DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 



XXXVII. 

" With heart and voice awaken 

Those minstrel strains of yore, 
Till Britain's name and glory, 

Resound from shore to shore ; 
Should hostile bands or danger, 

E'er threaten our fair Isle, 
May God's strong arm protect us, 

May Heav'n still on us smile ! 
Then, let the pray'r re-echo, 

Among our bills and dales, 
' God bless fair Alexandra ! ' 

' God bless the Prince of Wales ! ' ' 

1. An omen. 

2. A poet in the eighteenth century. 

3. The author of " The Bible in Spain." 

4. The second wife of Edgar, King of 

England. 

5. A whetstone. 

6. A border river. 



DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 35 



XXXVIII. 

AN ARTIST, AND HIS TOOLS. 

" Not old, but in the staid and ripened prime 
Of a man's life, he fell ; and in an hour, 
When least of all was pictured sorrow's power, 
To veil in gloom that stretch of merry time. 
And if the chief 
Mark stamped upon his labours was the play 
Of humour and of fancy, yet the day 
Which took him — to a nation's honest grief — 
Took the best limner of each lovely face 

Of English pure girl-beauty. None have yet 
Equalled him thus — none seeing can forget 
His cabinet of loveliness. His place 
Is all unfilled in English art. His name 

Is and will still be loved by thousands— those 
Who have hung o'er the pictures whence arose 
Slowly but sure the structure of his fame." 

1. A short leap. 

2. An opening. 

3. Placid and quiet. 

4. A low tide. 

5. A sweet root. 

6. The impression of a book. 

7. India-rubber. 

8. An American plant. 

9. Emblematical. 



d 2 



36 DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 



XXXIX. 



' Now, when the hart doth hear 

The often-bellowing hounds to vent his sacred ]air, 
He rousing rushes out, and through the brakes 

doth drive, 
As though up by the roots the bushes he would rive. 
And through the cumb'rous thicks, as fearfully he 

makes, 
He with his branched head the tender saplings 

shakes, 
That sprinkling their moist pearl do seem for him 

to weep ; 
When after goes the cry, with yellings loud and 

deep, 
That all the forest rings, and every neighbouring 

place : 
And there is not a hound but falleth to the chase. 
Rechating with his horn, which then the hunter 

cheers, 
While still the lusty hart, his high-palm' d head 

up-bears, 
His body showing state, with unbent knees upright, 
Expressing from all beasts, his courage in his flight." 

1. A buffoon. 

2. A lake of Thibet. 

3. The act of walking. 

4. A winged insect. 



DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 37 



XL. 

" Were I at once empowered to show 
My utmost vengeance on my foe, 
To punish with extremest rigour, 
I could inflict no penance bigger 
Than using him as learning's tool — 
To make him usher of a school. 
Oh 'tis a service irksome more, 
Than, tugging at the slavish oar ! 
Yet such his task, a dismal truth, 
Who watches o'er the bent of youth. 
' Yet still he's on the road,' you say, 
'Of learning.' Why, perhaps he may, 
But turns like horses in a mill, 
Nor gettiQg on, nor standing still ; 
For little way his learning reaches, 
Who reads no more than what he teaches." 

1. A division in the church. 

2. A daughter of Priam. 

3. A Greek physician. 

4. The path of a planet. 

5. Yellow earth. 

6. A Lacedemonian general. 



38 DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 

XLI. 

AN OLD TREE— WHERE IT GREW. 

" Time made tliee what thou wast, — king of the woods : 
And Time has made thee what thou art — a cave 
For owls to roost in. Once thy spreading boughs 
O'erhung the champaign ; and the numerous flocks, 
That grazed it, stood beneath that ample cope 
Uncrowded, yet safe-shelter'd from the storm. 
No nock frequents thee now. Thou hast outlived 
Thy popularity, and art become 
(Unless verse rescue thee awhile) a thing 
Forgotten, as the foliage of thy youth." 

1. A celebrated town of Italy. 

2. The weapon of an ox. 

3. A village in the county of Pembroke. 

4. A town of Ceylon. 

5. The highest mountains in Europe. 

6. A four-footed furry animal. 

7. A hooded disguise. 

8. A monster of the deep. 

9. Surpassing others. 

10. A pronoun. 

11. A town of Naples. 

12. A town of Asiatic Russia. 

13. An upper dress. 



DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 39 



XLIL 

AN ANCIENT COUNTRY— THE PEOPLE WHO 
DESTROYED IT. 

" This firm republic, that against the blast 
Of opposition rose, that (like an oak, 
Nurs'd on feracious Algidum, whose boughs 
Still stronger shoot beneath the rigid axe) 
By loss, by slaughter, from the steel itself, 
Ev'n force and spirit drew ; smit with the calm, 
The dead serene of prosperous fortune, pin'd. 
Nought now her weighty legions could oppose, 
Her terror once on Afric's tawny shore, 
Now smok'd in dust, a stabling now for wolves, 
And every dreaded power receiv'd the yoke." 

1. A Greek elegiac poet. 

2. A goddess of voyages. 

3. A forest officer. 

4. The name of one of Southey's poems. 

5. A small island on the coast of 

Brittany. 

6. A grave piece of music. 

7. A colour made of white and red. 

8. The east wind. 



40 DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 



XLIII. 

THE SECOND ALWAYS USEFUL TO THE FIRST. 

" A wet sheet and a flowing sea, 
A wind that follows fast, 
And fills the white and rustling sail, 
And bends the gallant mast. 

" And bends the gallant mast, my boys, 
While, like the eagle free, 
Away the good ship flies, and leaves 
Old England on the lee ! " 

1. A son of Aaron. 

2. The general who defeated Galgacus 

on the Grampian hills. 

3. Bad taste. 

4. A lover. 

5. A scented resin. 

6. Great fear. 

7. A necessary accompaniment to archery. 

8. An island in the South Pacific Ocean. 

9. A flowing stream. 



DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 41 






XLIV. 


AN ANCIENT RUIN— A MODERN BUILDING NEAR IT. 




1. 


A small lizard. 




2. 


A very small hair. 




3. 


A dancing muse. 




4. 


Clownish. 




5. 


The sea-holly. 




6. 


A province of Peru. 




7. 


A city on the Scheldt. 




8. 


A town of Asiatic Turkey. 




9. 


A girdle. 




10. 


Faults in printing. 




11. 


A cry of horror. 

XLV. 




PLOUGHMAN'S FARE. 


1. 


A destructive missile. 


2. 


A town in Old Castile. 


3. 


The 


name of a rod in a marine steam- 




engine. 


4. 


A town of Brazil. 


5. 


The home resort of the wood-king. 



42 DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 



XLVI. 
AX AUTHOR— ONE OF HIS WORKS. 



Immortal bard sublime ! 



Unniatclied within the realms of time, 
He did not, with Promethean aim, 
Attempt to steal ethereal flame. 
Rather, to him the thoughts of heaven 
Were by celestial bounty given ; 
He read profound, in ev'ry page 
Of Nature's volume, ev'ry age 

And act of man 

. . His page still lives, and sure will last 
Till time and all its years are past ! " 

1. A deputy. 

2. A circle. 

3. A King of Macedon. 

4. A sea-weed. 

5. A Syrian wind. 

6. A precious and valuable stone. 

7. A captive Jew. 

8. A celebrated Regent of France. 

9. A town of Hungary. 

10. The artist of the Trojan horse. 



DOUBLE ACKOSTICS. 43 



XLVIL 

" Waem with fond hope and learning's sacred flame, 
To Granta's bowers the youthful poet came ; 
Unconquered powers the immortal mind displayed, 
But worn with anxious thought, the frame decayed. 
Pale o'er his lamp, and in his cell retired, 
The martyr student faded and expired. 
Oh ! genius, taste, and piety sincere, 
Too early lost 'midst studies too severe ! 
Foremost to mourn was generous Southey seen, 

He told the tale, and showed what had been ; 

Nor told in vain. Far o'er the Atlantic wave 
A wanderer came, and sought the poet's grave ; 
On yon low stone he saw his lonely name, 
And raised this fond memorial to his fame." 

1. A kind of black earth. 

2. A prophet. 

3. An Italian singer. 

4. To weave without a loom. 

5. The starwort plant. 



44 DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 



XLVIII. 

* " Magic of light ! but now I strayed 
Under a cope of darkling sky, 
Whereon the gaunt oak's tracery 
Seemed but a blacker shade on sha4e. 

" When sudden from a drift of cloud 

Burst the moon's disc, with arrowy light 
Flooding the edges of the night, 
Like silver fringes on a shroud. 

" Across the face of the black pool 

Rippled in smiles the gladsome beam, 
And searched the shade with level gleam, 
And ousted Horror's midnight rule. 

: ' I thought of darkling souls, whose night 
Is lit with sudden bursts of love 
And hope, irradiant from above, 
How all their blackness turns to light." 

1 . The capital of a large district in Arabia. 

2. A round and hollow moulding in architecture. 

3. The capital of a district in Hindostan. 

4. A town of Asiatic Russia. 



DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 45 



XLIX. 
A BOHEMIAN MARTYR. 

" Thou hear'st ray fixed resolve ; — and now 

The guards — the rack — the flame prepare ; 
And count me weak and false as thou, 

If I fall back, or tremble there. 
Aye ! thou may'st smile — but not in scorn, 

Proud minion of a despot's will ; 
Thy direst vengeance have I borne, 

And stand prepared to bear it still. 
My pride, my triumph it shall be, 
To die for Him who died for me." 

1. A precious gem. 

2. A town of European Russia. 

3. The first writer of profane history. 

4. Nymphs. 



46 DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 



^ + L. 

A QUEEN, AND &ER FAVOURITE. 

" Could I think thou hast practised on me — on 
me thy Sovereign, on me thy confiding, thy too 
partial mistress, the base and ungrateful deception 
which thy present confusion surmises ! " 

1. A long fish. 

2. A turner's tool. 

3. A town of Asiatic Russia. 

4. A large circle of the sphere. 

5. A disciple of Plato. 

6. A lady's title. 

7. The largest of animals. 

8. One of the Furies. 

9. The mother of a very powerful 

tribe. 



DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 



47 



LI. 

A COMPANY, AND ITS FIRST PROFESSIONS. 

" All is not gold that glitters." 

" Commerce ! I envy not thy gains, 
Thy hard-earn'd wealth, thy golden pains ! 
The dangers which thy vot'ries run, 
Or to undo or be undone ; 
Whose hungry maws are daily bent 
On the fine feast of cent, per cent. ; 
Whose virtue, talents, knowledge, health, 
Are all combin'd in that word — Wealth !" 

1. What a magistrate is. 

2. An amphibious animal. 

3. A country of Africa. 

4. A particular wind. 

5. A boy's plaything. 

6. A sour, acid fruit. 

7. Trade. 

8. Wealthy. 

9. A Greek island. 

10. Name of a raisin in India. 



48 DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 



t LII. 
A POET, AND ONE OF HIS WORKS. 

" No tear relieved the burden of her heart ; 
Stunned with the heavy woe, she felt like one 
Half- wakened from a midnight dream of blood. 
But sometimes, when the boy 
Would wet her hand with tears, 
And, looking up to her fixed countenance, 
Sob out the name of Mother, then did she 
Utter a feeble groan. 

At length, collecting, Zeinab turned her eyes 
To Heaven, exclaiming, ' Praised be the Lord ! 
He gave, He takes away ! 
The Lord our God is good ! ' " 

1. A short song. 

2. To be too powerful. 

3. A small island in the Mediterranean. 

4. The track of a hunter. 

5. A shout of joy. 

6. To bury. 

7. A town of Africa. 



DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 49 



Llir. 
AN INSTITUTION. 

'Tis sweet to behold, when the billows are sleeping, 

Some gay-colour'd bark moving gracefully by ; 
No damp on her deck but the eventide's weeping, 

~No breath in her sails but the summer wind's 
sigh. 
But who would not turn, with a fonder emotion, 

To gaze on the Life-boat, though rugged and worn ; 
Which often hath wafted o'er hills of the Ocean, 

The lost light of hope to the seaman forlorn 1 
Oh, grant that of those who in life's sunny slumbers, 

Around us like summer barks idly have play'd ; 
When storms are abroad, we may find in the number, 

One friend like the Life-boat to come to our aid." 

1. Belonging to the nation. 

2. The ancient name of Buckinghamshire. 

3. A grassy clod. 

4. Imperceptible. 

5. A sphere. 

6. A Papal envoy. 

7. The wife of Perseus. 

8. Useful for saving life. 



'-a" 



50 DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 



LIV. 

Tasteful illumination of the night, 

Bright scattered, twinkling star of spangled earth ! 
Hail to the nameless coloured dark and light, 

The witching nurse of thy illumined birth. 
In thy still hour how dearly I delight 

To rest my weary bones, from labour free ! 
In lone spots, out of heariDg, out of sight, 

To sigh day's smothered pains ; and pause on thee, 
Bedecking dangling brier and ivied tree, 

Or diamonds tipping on the grassy spear ; 
Thy pale-faced glimmering light I love to see, 

Gilding and glistering in the dew drop near. 
Oh still hour's mate ! my easing heart sobs free, 

While tiny bents low bend with many an added 
tear." 

1. Endowed with great power. 

2. A noted Jesuit. 

3. A Hebrew measure. 

4. A literary production. 

5. A celebrated architect. 

6. Simple mineral metal. 

7. A kind of illustrated riddle. 

8. The geometry of motion. 



DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 51 

LV. 

TWO STATESMEN. 

Such men are raised to station and command, 
When Providence means mercy to a land. 
He speaks, and they appear ; to Him they owe 
Skill to direct, and strength to strike the blow, 
To manage with address, to seize with power 
The crisis of a dark decisive hour ! " 

1. A disagreeable insect. 

2. A short-lived fever. 

3. What the statesmen were. 

4. A village in Kent. 

5. Passionate hatred. 

6. A Grecian commander in the time of 

Priam. 

7. An elegant group. 

8. A violent wind. 

9. A beautiful river of America. 

10. A town in Warwickshire, noted for 
its ribbons. 

LVI. 

THE SECOND SWALLOWED THE FIRST. 

1. A town in Durham, birthplace of the 

Venerable Bede. 

2. An African fowl. 

3. A river celebrated for its falls. 

4. An ornament of architecture. 

5. A piece of land, about 100 acres. 



52 


DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 




LVII. 


THE FIRST WAS CAUSED BY THE SECOND. 


" To remove thee I am come ! 


And send thee from the garden forth to till 


The ground whence thou wast taken, fitter soil." 


1. 


A Nation many years oppressed. 


2. 


A people who live in the torrid zone. 


3. 


A celebrated twin. 


4. 


One of the Philippine Islands. 


0. 


Conferring an honour. 


6. 


A plot. 


7. 


A Spanish dance. 


8. 


A small case for instruments. 


9. 


A river whose waters are said to take away 




memory. 


10. 


A mighty hunter. 


11. 


Theatrical. 


12. 

r 


A strongly scented flower. 



DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 53 



LVIII. 

THE FIRST IS USED WHEN IN MOTION, THE 
SECOND WHEN STILL. 

"And I have loved thee, Ocean ! and my joy 
Of youthful sports was on thy breast to be 
Borne like thy bubbles, onward : from a boy 
I wantoned with thy breakers — they to me 
Were a delight ; and if the freshening sea 
Made them a terror — 'twas a pleasing fear ; 
For I was as it were a child of thee, 
And trusted to thy billows far and near, 
And laid my head upon thy mane — as I do now. 

1. A rural deity. 

2. A fabulous animal 

3. A melancholy state. 

4. A prophetess. 

5 . A goddess of war. 

6. A particular description of watch. 



54 DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 



+ LIX. 
A SOVEREIGN, AND A ROYAL RESIDENCE. 

" O Caledonia ! stern and wild, 
Meet nurse for a poetic child ! 
Land of brown heath and shaggy wood, 
Land of the mountain and the flood, 
Land of my sires ! what mortal hand 
Can e'er untie the filial band 
That knits me to thy rugged strand ! " 

1. A part of speech. 

2. An exalted personage in Spain. 

3. A rustic labourer. 

4. A state of servitude. 

5. A dark hero, 

6 . Steadfast implacability. 

7. A thought. 

8. Cunning and clever, 



DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 55 



LX. 

A GENERAL, AND THE COUNTRY HE CONQUERED. 
" PECCAVI." 

1. A goddess of revenge. 

2. A small sea. 

3. A large province in China. 

4. Sedition. 

5. A town in Syria infested by 

scorpions. 

6. A lovely flower. 

LXI. 

A CELEBRATED RIVER, AND A CAPTAIN WHO 
TREATED IT WITH CONTEMPT. 

1. The river. 

2. One of Shakspeare's heroines. 

3. A large country. 



4. 


An 


ensign of 


royalty. 


5. 


An 


Egyptian 


drug. 


6. 


The 


captain. 





DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 



LXIL 

THE FIRST SHOULD NOT INTERFERE WITH 
THE SECOND. 

" How often have I bless'd the coming day, 
When toil remitting lent its turn to play, 
And all the village train, from labour free, 
Led up their sports beneath the spreading tree ; 
"While many a pastime circled in the shade, 
The young contending as the old survey'd ; « 
And still as each repeated pleasure tired, 
Succeeding sports the mirthful band inspired, 
The dancing pair that simply sought renown, 
By holding out to tire each other down." 

1. A weight used on a line. 

2. A town in Bohemia. 

3. An infernal deity. 

4. A warlike people of Scythia. 

5. An Eastern monarch. 

6. Illiberal. 

7. A beast with a horn on its nose. 

8. A prince of Verona. 



DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 57 



LXIII. 

" Beneath the budding lilacs 
A little maiden sighed — 
The first flower in her garden 
That very morn had died. 

" A primrose- tuft, transplanted, 

And watered every day, 

One yellow bud had opened, 

And then it pined away. 

" I thought, as that child's sorrow 
Rose wailing on the air, 
My heart gave forth an echo, 
Long bound in silence there. 

" For though time brings us roses, 
And golden fruits beside ; 
We've all some desert garden 
Where life's first primrose died/ 

1. A dense moist vapour. 

2. A large country in America. 

3. A holder of property. 

4. A system of beings. 

5. A straight passage. 

6. A West Indian fox. 



58 DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 



LXIV. 

". The crowning gifts of many a race 

Would seem to blend in thee ; 
Brave Saxon truth, gay Gallic grace, 

And Spain's high courtesy : 
Thy soul owns yet the richer dower 

That well befits a throne ; 
Wide sympathy's electric power, 

That makes all hearts its own." 

1. Without thought. 

2. A dress. 

3. A small crowd. 

4. One who carries out the sentence of 

the law. 

5. Saltpetre. 

6. Twin brother of Hercules. 

7. One of the Popes of the second 

century. 



DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 59 

LXV. 
A MUSICAL COMPAEISON. 

" Nature's tones are grandest ; take those poplars 

near the hall, 
Like a range of ancient pillars o'er its lichen- 
spattered wall, 
Resonant as harpstrings, aye, and more so when 

the wind 
Plays there, as a master fingers all the fancies in 

his mind. 
" Harpstrings many-stranded, bid them vibrate, 

there was ne'er . 
Such an organ underbooming for a nation met in 

prayer ; 
Sweet with flight of trebles, lyric, shrilling, and 

anon 
All arush, as when the horse-hoofs of an army 

hammer on." 

1. A King of Egypt. 

2. A city of Japan. 

3. Strength and influence. 

4. A sugar-plum. 

5. An animal that once spoke. 

6. A disturbance. 

7. A stupid laugh. 

8. A town of Italy. 

9. The art of sweetening. 

10. Immortal. 

11. A fellow-preacher with Paul. 



60 DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 



LXVI. 

" Yon cottager, who weaves at her own door, 
Pillow and bobbins all her little store ; 
Content though mean, and cheerful if not gay, 
Shuffling her threads about the livelong day, 
Just earns a scanty pittance, and at night 
Lies down secure, her heart and pocket light ; 
She, for her humble sphere by Nature fit, 
Has little understanding, and no wit. 
Just knows, and knows no more, her Bible true, 
And in that charter reads, with sparkling eyes, 
Her title to a treasure in the skies ! " 



1. 


A winged mouse. 


2. 


A prophet of Judah. 


3. 


An animal of the hog kind. 


4. 


A row of small pillars. 


5. 


A province of Chili. 


6. 


A kingdom of European Russia. 


7. 


A quicksand. 



DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 61 



LXVII. 

Within a thick and spreading hawthorn bush 

That overhung a molehill large and round, 
I heard from morn to morn a merry thrush 

Sing hymns of rapture, while I drank the sound 
With joy — and oft an unintruding guest, 

I watched her secret toils from day to day ; 
How true she warped the moss to form her nest, 

And modelled it within with wood and clay. 
And by and by, like heathbells gilt with dew, 

There lay her shining eggs as bright as flowers, 
Ink-spotted over, shells of green and blue : 

And there I witnessed, in the summer hours, 
A brood of Nature's minstrels chirp and fly, 
Glad as the sunshine and the laughing sky." 



1. 


A close student. 


2. 


A town of European Turkey. 


3. 


A retorted accusation. 


4. 


An ancient stoic philosopher. 


5. 


A novelist and historian, eighteenth 




century. 


6. 


A daily epitome. 


7. 


A conference. 


8. 


A gun. 


9. 


The son of Ulysses. 



62 DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 



LXVIII. 

" I have a treasure, what is it say, 
Oh, lady fair, oh, lady fair ? 
Is it a mirror to shine all day, 

Or pearls to braid my brown, brown hair 1 

"Is it a castle, with broad fair lands, 
A magic purse of caged red gold, 
Whose swelling meshes within my hands 
Exhaustless store of riches hold 1 

" Is it a crown and a throne of state, 

And a wand to wave o'er subjects leal, 
With mailed guards at my palace gate, 
And a royal will to say and. seal 1 

" I tell thee, no ; it is none of these, 

Oh, lady fair, oh, lady fair ; 

But a little pet upon my knees, 

To toss and pull my brown, brown hair." 

1 . A painter's staff. 

2. Part of a circle. 

3. A village of Switzerland. 

4. A pastoral song. 

5. Stranded. 



DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 63 



LXIX. 

" Oh, don't you become a nun, ray dear, 

But leave your beauty free ; 
Of vows pr'ythee make but one, my dear, 

And make that one to me ! 
Whenever you wish to ' confess,' my dear, 

Be this tender heart your shrine ; 
For you never will find, I guess, my dear, 

So faithful a heart as mine ! 
E'en the world with its cares and strifes, my 
dear, 

Is a school it is easy to see ; 
And if vows you would make for your life, 
my dear, 

Oh, then, make them at once to me ! 
The bliss for which oftenest I sigh, my dear, 

Is to thine my fate to tether; 
To live on, in one faith, till we die, my dear, 

And then travel to Heaven together." 

1. A swinging weight. 

2. A title of Juno. 

3. What Demosthenes was. 

4. A sporting dog. 

5. A lake of European Russia. 

6. A fixed alkali. 

7. A King of the Amalekites. 

8. A royal reception. 



64 DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 



LXX. 

AN AUTHOR AND HIS FRIEND. 

" Tho' grief and fondness in my breast rebel, 
When injur'd Thales bids the town farewell, 
Yet still my calmer thoughts his choice commend, 
I praise the hermit, but regret the friend. 
Resolv'd at length from vice and London far, 
To breathe in distant fields a purer air, 
And fix'd on Cambria's solitary shore, 
Give to St. David one pure Briton more. 
For who would leave, unbrib'd, Hibernia's land, 
Or change the rocks of Scotland for the Strand ? " 

■ 1. A patient man. 

2. The name of a mad hero. 

3. An entertaining lady. 

4. Stingy. 

5. A place of worship. 

6. A bird that catches mice. 

7. An idiot. 



DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 65 



LXXI. 

" Two remarkable persons in Peruvian history, 
who civilised the inhabitants, by the first, teaching 
the women to spin and weave, &c.'; and the second, 
instructing: the men in agriculture and other arts." 



1. 


An Eastern religion. 


2. 


A feast in honour of Bacchus. 


3. 


A fine fabric worn by ladies. 


4. 


A particular kind of telescope. 


5. 


A celebrated Emperor of Germany. 


6. 


A connoisseur. 


7- 


A seaport on the Black Sea. 


8. 


A part of the face. 


9. 


The capital of Peru. 


10. 


Instrumental. 

I 



66 


DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 




LXXIL 


"Along the line the signal ran — 


' England expects that every man, 


This 


day will do his duty ! '" 


1. 


A foot soldier. 


2. 


An exclamation. 


3. 


A useful grain. 


4. 


A town of Russia. 


5. 


A pious Israelitess. 


6. 


Wandering. 


7. 


A manorial court. 


8. 


A fine plaster. 


9. 


One holding a commission. 


10. 


Punctilious discrimination. 



DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 67 

LXXIII. 
THE FIEST CLINGS TO THE SECOND. 

" Thou wast a bauble once ; a cup and ball, 
Which babes might play with; and the thievish jay, 
Seeking her food, with ease might have purloined 
The auburn nut that held thee, swallowing down 
Thy yet close- folded latitude of boughs, 
And all thine embryo greatness at a gulp. 
But fate thy growth decreed." 

1. The wife of Athamas. 

2. A town of European Turkey. 

3. To move with a spring. 

LXXIV. 
AN ENGLISH ARTIST, NINETEENTH CENTURY. 

1. Advantage. 

2. A town of Hungary. 

3. A battle where Marlborough defeated 

the French. 

4. A nautical mile. 

5. An indicator of electricity. 

G. An eminent divine and author, seven- 
teenth century. 



Q8 DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 



LXXV. 

" Child of the sun ! pursue thy rapturous flight, 
Mingling with her thou lov'st in fields of light ; 
And, where the flowers of paradise unfold, 
Quaff fragrant nectar from their cups of gold. 
There, shall thy wings, rich as an evening sky, 
Expand and shut with silent ecstacy ! 
Yet wert thou once a worm, a thing that crej3t 
On the bare earth, then wrought a tomb and 

slept. 
And such is man ; soon from his cell of clay 
To burst a seraph in the blaze of day." 



1. A celestial spirit. 




2. A city of China. 




3. The edict of an Emperor. 




4. A fashionable small ship. 




5. Fruit of the blackthorn. 




6. The first King of Argos. 




7. A town of Bavarian Franconie. 




8. The first archer mentioned in 


the 


Scriptures. 




9. A description of the moon. 





DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 69 



LXXVI. 

" The rose had been wash'd, just wash'd in a shower, 

Which Mary to Anna convey' d ; 
The plentiful moisture encumber'd the flower, 

And weigh'd down its beautiful head. 
The cup was all fill'd, and the leaves were all wet; 

And it seem'd, to a fanciful view, 
To weep for the buds it had left with regret 

On the nourishing bush where it grew. 
I hastily seized it, unfit as it was, 

For a nosegay, so dripping and drown' d, 
And swinging it rudely, too rudely, alas ! 

I snapp'd it ! it fell to the ground. 
This elegant rose, had I shaken it less, 

Might have bloom' d with its owner awhile ; 
And the tear that is wiped with a little address, 

May be follow' d, perhaps, by a smile." 

1. The name of a brave Scotch king. 

2. An obstruction. 

3. A country in Asia much connected with 

Jewish history. 

4. A captive Jewess. 

5. Imaginary birds killed by Hercules. 



70 DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 



LXXVII. 

" I will be satisfied ; deny me this, 

And an eternal curse fall on you ! Let me know :— 

Why sinks that cauldron 1 What noise is this ? — 

— " ' Show his eyes, and grieve his heart, 

Come like shadows so depart.' " 

1. A clown. 

2. A well-known theatre. 

3. A bird of prey. 

4. A large town on the banks of the Nile. 

5. The father of Samuel. 

6. A special edifice. 

7. Three monsters. 

LXXVIII- 

" Look ! and an honest man you'll see, 
Whose word's his bond, nor e'er was known 
To do a deed he would not own." 

1. The first word. 

2. A musical poem. 

3. A French tyrant in the eighteenth century. 

4. The second word. 



DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 71 



LXXIX. 

"An answer, sir, I scarce can give, 
I never hunt nor bear a gun ; 
I have no time, nor like the fun. 
Learning's the game that I pursue, 
I have no other sport in view. . . . 
. . Oft when I rise at early morn, 
And hear the cheerful echoing horn, 
I'm forced from the inspiring noise, 
To hunt a pack of idle boys ; 
And when they babble in their din, 
I am a special whipper-in ; 
Kay, if they should be found at fault, 
I crack my whip, sir, as I ought." 

1. A noted silversmith at Ephesus. 

2. A soldier attendant on an officer. 

3. The promised land, 
-i. A rushing stream. 



5. A Greek letter. 

6. Title of King. 



72 D0UI1LE ACKOSTICS. 



LXXX. 

Dwellers by lake and hill, 

Merry companions of the bird and bee ! 
Go gladly forth and drink of joy your fill, 

With unconstrained step, and spirits free ! 
The sunshine and the flowers, 

And the old trees that cast a solemn shade, 
The pleasant evening, the fresh dewy hours, 

And the green hills whereon your fathers played. 
Ye sit upon the earth 

Twining its flowers, and shouting full of glee ; 
And a pure mighty influence, 'mid your mirth, 

Moulds your unconscious spirits silently. 
Then go forth, — earth and sky 

To you are tributary ; joys are spread 
Profusely, like the summer flowers that lie 

In the green path, beneath your gamesome tread. 

1. A ludicrous imitator of others. 

2. To spread out. 

3. A town of Siberia. 

4. An upright post of a staircase. 

5. A covered drinking mug. 

6. A soothsayer. 

7. Precious above estimation. 

8. The act of swimming:. 



DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 73 

LXXXI. 

; I think the best grace of wit will shortly turn 

into silence, 
And discourse grow commendable in none but 

parrots." 

1. A thirsty King of Paphlagonia. 

2. A modern musical composer. 

3. Exact. 

4. A scoundrel. 

5. Wrath. 

6. A soothing draught. 

7. A celebrated painter of the original 

Italian school. 

LXXXII. 

When at thy birth a frail unconscious child, 
Weeping thou lay'st, when all around thee smil'd ; 
Oh ! when thou sink'st to thy eternal sleep, 
Soft may'st thou smile, when all around shall weep." 

1. A poet. 

2. To enlighten. 

3. A good cordial liquor. 

4. A King of the Celtse. 

5. A group of islands in the Red Sea. 



^ DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 



LXXXIII. 

THE NAMES OF TWO LOVERS. 

" This letter doth make good the Friar's words, 
Their course of love, the tidings of her death ; 
And here, < he writes '—that he did buy a poison 
Of a poor 'pothecary, and there withal 
Came to this vault to die ! " 

1. To talk a great deal. 

2. A town of Spain. 

3. A frame for work. 

4. Purity. 

5. A town of Finland. 

6. Neat. 

7. A town of Egypt. 
3. Trouble. 

9. A principal province of Sardinia. 

10. A town of Italy. 

11. A swift, noisy bird. 
1,2. One of Job's friends. 
13. A loving bird. 



DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 15 



LXXXIV. 

" ' And, first, I tell thee, haughty Peer, 
He, who does England's message here, 
Although the meanest in her state, 
May well, proud Angus, be thy mate ; 
And, , more I tell thee here, 

Even in thy pitch of pride, 
Here in thy hold, thy vassals near 
(Nay, never look upon your lord, 
And lay your hand upon your sword), 

I tell thee, thou'rt defied ! 
And if thou said'st I am not peer 
To any lord in Scotland here, 
Lowland or Highland, far or near, 

Lord Angus, thou hast lied ! ' 
On the Earl's cheek the flush of rage 
O'ercame the ashen hue of age ; 
Fierce he broke forth — ' And dar'st thou then 
To beard the lion in his den V" 

1. An old Roman coin. 

2. A village of Prussia. 

3. An inferior agent. 

4. A particular kind of electricity. 

5. Learned men. 

6. Likewise. 

7. A Sultan of Egypt, called the Magnificent. 



DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 



LXXXV. 



Forced from, home and all its pleasures, 
Afric's coast I left forlorn 



To increase the stranger's treasures, 

O'er the raging billows borne, 
Men from Europe bought and sold me, 

Paid my price in paltry gold ; 
But though theirs they have enroll'd me, 

Minds are never to be sold. 

" Ts there, as ye sometimes tell us, 

Is there One who reigns on high ? 
Has He bid you buy and sell us, 

SjDeaking from his throne, the sky 1 
Ask Him, if your knotted scourges, 

Matches, blood-extorting screws, 
Are the means that duty urges 

Agents of his will to use 1 " 

1. A pleasant drink. 

2. A measure, more than a yard. 

3. A city of the Philistines. 

4. A town of European Russia on the 
Lake Nero. 

5. An animal of prey. 



DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 



LXXXVI. 
TWO ANCIENT CITIES. 

" Ancient of days ! August ! Where, 

Where are thy men of might 1 thy grand in soul 'I 
Gone glimmering through the things that were ; 

First in the race that led to glory's goal, 
They won, and passed away — Is this the whole 1 

A schoolboy's tale, the wonder of an hour ! 
The warrior's weapon, and the sophist's stole, 
Are sought in vain, and o'er each mouldering 

tower, 
Dim with the mist of years, grey flits the shade 
of power."' 

1 . A city of Greece. 

2. An eminent statesman in the reign of 

George III. 

3. The second crop of grass. 

4. Deliverance from restraint. 

5. Two pipes. 

6. Another city of Greece, 



78 DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 



LXXXVII. 

" Breathed hot 
From all the boundless furnace of the sky, 
And the wide glittering waste of burning sand, 
A suffocating wind the pilgrim smites 
With instant death. Patient of thirst and toil, 
Son of the desert ! e'en the camel feels, 
Shot through his withered heart, the fiery blast. 
Or from the black-red ether, bursting broad, 
Sallies the sudden whirlwind. Straight the sands, 
Commoved around, in gathering eddies play; 
Nearer and nearer still they darkening come, 
Till with the general all-involving storm 
Swept up, the whole continuous wilds arise ; 

In Cairo's crowded 

streets 
The impatient merchant, wondering, waits in vain, 
And Mecca saddens at the long delay." 

1. A kind of hook. 

2. A useful plea in criminal cases. 

3. A noisy feast. 

4. Giving notice. 

5. A conqueror. 

6. Cannibals. 

7. A fortress of Hindostan. 



DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 79 



LXXXVIII. 

" From Greenland's icy mountains, 
From India's coral strand, 

Where Afric's sunny fountains 
Roll down their golden sand ; 

From many an ancient river, 
From many a palmy plain, 

They call us to deliver 



1. 


Iheir land from error s chain. 
A false prophet. 


2. 


A walled town of Mingrelia. 


3. 


A soft shining texture. 


4. 


A reptile resembling a small lobster. 


5. 


A town in Devonshire. 


6. 


A decayed town of European Russia. 


7. 


An imaginary being supposed to preside over 




the world. 


8. 


An officer in the navy. 


9. 


A change of sentence. 


10. 


Dexterously. 



80 DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 



LXXXIX. 

"A rose's brief, bright life of joy, 

Such unto him was given ; 
Go ! thou must play alone, my boy I 

Thy brother is in heaven. 
' And has he left the birds and flow'rs, 

And must I call in vain 1 
And through the long, long summer hours, 

Will he not come again 1 
And by the brook, and in the glade, 

Are all our wand'rings o'er I 
Oh ! while my brother with me played, 

Would I had loved him more !' " 

1. A measure of length. 

2. One who forms ideas. 

3. The island on which Cronstadt is built. 

4. A hanging candlestick. 

5. A small town in Aberdeenshire. 



DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 81 



XC. 
A MODERN TRIUMPH OF SCIENCE. 

1. A close wood. 

2. A town of Silesia. 

3. A city of the Philistines. 

4. A periodical wind. 

5. A river in Devonshire. 

6. Unskilful writing. 



xci. 

THE FIRST GAINED INDIA, THE SECOND 
LOST IT. 

1. A carpenter's tool. 

2. One of the signs of the Zodiac. 
3: A river in Lancashire. 

4. A dependant. 

5, Praise. 



S'2 DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 



XCII. 

" How oft with pleasure we pursue 
Some glitt'ring phantom in our view ! 
Not rightly seen or understood, 
We chase it as a real good. 
Sometimes the clouds appear to low'r, 
And threat misfortune's direst hour ; 
We tremble at th' approaching blast, 
Each hope is fled — we look aghast ! " 

1. A fabulous horse. 

2. A considerable river of France. 

3. A Laplander's sledge. 

4. To cauterise. 

5. The last King of Assyria. 



DOUBLE ACKOSTICS. 83 



XCIII. 

" 'Tis thus, he humbly said, we read, 
In sacred books of heavenly deed : 
And thus I find in my distress, 
The manna of the wilderness. 
'Tis hermit's fare, but thanks to Heav'n, 
And those kind souls by whom 'tis giv'n 
'Tis true that bread, and curds, and fruit, 
Do with the pious hermits suit ; 
But Syntax surely was mistaken, 
To think their meals partake of bacon ! " 

1. A light shade of yellow. 

2. A harvest labourer. 

3. A town of Bohemia. 

4. A town of Naples. 

5. A paper containing a warrant. 



g 2 



84 DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 



XCIV. 

a i j\/[y gentle lad, what is't you read — 

Romance or fairy fable 1 
Or is it some historic page, 

Of kings and crowns unstable 1 ' 
The young boy gave an upward glance — 

1 It is the death of Abel.' 
The usher took six hasty strides, 

As smit with sudden pain ; 
Six hasty strides beyond the place, 

Then slowly back again ; 
And down he sat beside the lad, 

And talked to him of Cain 

. . . That very night, while gentle sleep 

The urchin eyelids kissed, 
Two stern -faced men set out from Lynn, 

Through the cold and heavy mist ; 
And walked between, 

With gyves upon his wrist." 

1. A shoulder-knot. 

2. A compound distilled spirit. 
3- A shady walk. 

4. Being very zealous. 

5. The chief town of New Providence. 

6. An artist's frame. 

7. A military officer. 

8. A strong weapon of defence. 

9. A Levite, the father of Kishi. 
10. A sea-fish. 



DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 85 

XCV.-f 

TWO POLITICAL PARTIES. 

" Not so the dire effect, 
The fierce, the foolish discord thence deriv'd, 
That tears the country still by party rage, 
And ministerial clamour kept alive ! " 

1. Sharp talent. 

2. A brave man. 

3. A judge of a celebrated secret court. 

4. A small fruit. 

xcvi. 
AN ANCIENT KING AND QUEEN. 

1 . A town in Yemen. 

2. An instrument for capital punishment. 

3. A chatterbox. 

4. A metal. 

5. A chief city of Macedonia. 

6. Sublime. 

7 . An inferior sort of ruby. 



S6 DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 

XCVII. 

" When evening listened to the dripping oar, 
Forgetting the loud city's ceaseless roar, 
By the green banks, where Thames, with conscious 

pride, 
Reflects that stately structure on his side, 
Within whose walls, as their long labours close, 
The wanderers of the ocean find repose, 
We wore in social ease the hours away, 
The passing visit of a summer's day. 
While some to range the breezy hill are gone, 
I lingered on the river's marge alone ; 
Mingled with groups of ancient sailors gray, 
And watched the last bright sunshine steal away. 

. . . . One who was blind 
Stood as to feel the comfortable wind 
That gently lifted his gray hair ; his face 
Seemed then of a faint smile to wear the trace." 

1. Military skill. 

2. The art of erasing. 

3. A very small volume. 

4. A Greek tragic poet. 
•5. A town of the Morea. 

6. An island of North America. 

7. An examination. 

8. A King of France. 

9. The distilled water from rosemaiy flowers. 



DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 87 

XCV1II. 

' Ruler and liero, shining in the west, 

With great bright eye, 
Rain down thy luminous arrows in this breast, 

With influence calm and high, 

And speak to me of many things gone by. 
Rememberest thou — 'tis years since, wandering star — 

Those eves in June, 
When thou hung'st quivering o'er the tree-tops 
far,. 

Where, with discordant tune, 

Many-tongued rooks hailed the red rising moon ? 
O Planet ! thou hast blotted out whole years 

Of life's dull round ; 
The Abel- voice of heart's-blood and of tears 

Sinks dumb into the ground, 

And tl e green grass waves on with lulling sound." 

1. A large island in the East. 

2. Above. 

3. Being inclined to new tenets. 

4. The son of Ikkesh. 

5. A night officer of a forest. 

6. Sweet briar. 

7. A float of timber. 



88 DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 



XCIX. 

' Oft has it been my lot to mark 
A proud, conceited, talking spark ; 

Yet round the world the blade has been, 
To see whatever could be seen. 

Returning from his finished tour — 
Grown ten times perter than before — 



' A stranger animal,' cries one, 

' Sure never lived beneath the sun. 
A lizard's body, lean and long, 

A fish's head, a serpent's tongue, 
Its foot with triple claw disjoin'd, 

And what a length of tail behind ! 
How slow its pace ! and then its hue — 

Whoever saw so fine a blue 1 ' 
' Hold there ! ' the other quick replies, 

''Tis green, I saw it with these eyes 

1. A solar boundary. 

2. A city of Syria. 

3. The goddess of industry. 

4. Poison. 



5. 

6. 


A pretty fur. 

A river in Caithness. 






7. 


Network of fine thread. 






8. 


A strait between Negro 


>pont 


and Livadia. 


9. 


A King of Syria. 







DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 89 



C. 

'Whilst listening to the murmuring leaves, he 

stood, 
More than a mile immers'd within the weed — 
At once the wind was laid ; the whispering sound 
Was dumb ; a rising earthquake rock'd the 

ground ; 
With deeper brown the grove was overspread, 
A sudden horror seized his giddy head, 
And his ears tingled, and his colour fled — 
Nature was in alarm ; some danger nigh 
Seem'd threaten'd, though unseen to mortal eye." 

1. To dress. 

2. An imaginary flower that never fades. 

3. Wild garlic. 

4. A stratagem. 

5. A small island in the Baltic. 

6. An uncomfortable feeling of conscience. 

7. Sole. 

8. A fine tan colour. 

9. A river in Pembrokeshire. 
10. Uncertain meaning. 



90 DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 



CI. 

THE COMPOSER OF THESE LINES. 

" All's for the best ! then fling away terrors, 
Meet all your fears and your foes in the van ; 
And in the midst of your dangers or errors, 
Trust like a child while you strive like a man. 
All's for the best ! unbiassed, unbounded, 
Providence reigns from the east to the west ; 
And by both wisdom and mercy surrounded, 
Hope and be happy that all's for the best ! " 

1. A naval novelist. 

2. A promontory of St. Domingo. 

3. A parish near Uxbridge. 

4. A body of soldiers. 

5. He venue. 

6. A King of Babylon. 



DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 91 



CII. 

But I have read, in tales of fairy land, 

Of gorgeous apparitions band on band, 

Of elves that dance to their own light ; and these 

Are of them. Look! the cornfields, vine-bowers, trees, 

Are constellated ; and the darkling earth 

Mimics the heavens. Can this be insect's mirth ?— 

— Yes ! 'tis a giddy and tumultuous light, 

Glittering in very mockery, and despite 

Of sleep and quiet dews. . . . And look ! the bird 

of night 
Chimes in, and strives with these in blest endeavour, 
For nought can music from refulgence sever, 
Ordained in earth and heaven companions ever. 
How glorious such existence, magic flies ! 
Ye move in light, and light is Paradise. 

1. A Scotch poem. 

2. A town of Asiatic Russia. 

3. The companion of Magog. 

4. A prophet. 

5. A small farm. 

6. One of the tribe of Manasseh. 

7. Privilege attainable by a foreigner. 

8. A slender cord. 

9. A daughter of King Alfred. 

10. A comfort. 

11. What the stars do. 

12. A Greek tragic poet. 



92 DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 



cm. 

' A youngster at school more sedate than the rest, 
Had once his integrity put to the test ; 
His comrades had plotted an orchard to rob, 
And ask'd him to go and assist in the job. 
He was shock' d, sir, like yon, and answer' d ' Oh, 

no ! 
What ! rob our good neighbour ? I pray you don't 

go. 
Besides the man's poor, his orchard's his bread ; 
Then think of his children, they must be fed.' 
1 You speak very fine, and you look very grave, 
But apples we want, and apples we'll have ; 
If you will go with us you shall have a share, 
If not, you shall have neither apple nor pear.' 
They spoke, and Tom pondered, ' I see they will 

go: 
Poor man ! what a pity to injure him so ! 
Poor man ! I would save him his fruit if I could, 
But staying behind will do him no good.' " 

1. To begin again. 

2. One who begs. 

3. A small town of Italy. 

4. A person well versed in Hebrew. 

5. An Indian garotter. 



DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 93 

CIV. 

" The roar of waters ! — from the headlong height 
Velino cleaves the wave- worn precipice ; 

The fall of waters ! rapid as the light, 

The flashing mass shaking the abyss ; . . . 

. Then mounts in spray the skies, and thence again 
Returns in an unceasing shower, which round, 

With its unemptied cloud of gentle rain, 
In an eternal April to the ground, 
Making it all one emerald : — how profound 

The gulph ! and how the giant element 

From rock to rock leaps with delirious bound, 

Crushing the cliffs, which, downward worn and 
rent 

With his fierce footsteps, yield in chasms a fearful 
vent ; 

Horribly beautiful ! " 

1. A large river of Russia. 

2. Imbecility. 

3. A useful fruit, 
■i. A prize-fighter. 

5. A daughter of Shesban. 

6. A town of Prussia. 

7. A noted palace in Granada. 



94 



DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 



CV. 

" On the fair borders of a mighty stream 

Rises the noblest city of our land ; 

Its palaces, and docks, and streets command 
Our wondering awe, and set our minds to dream 

What agency could thus have called to life 
So much that's beautiful, and grand, and high. 

Viewed from a lofty point, how free from strife 
Appear its dwellings outlined on the sky, 

Just veiled by misty haze, which serves to hide 
Their cracks and wrinkles from a searching eye ! 

True, 'tis a giant city ! but there be 

Within its walls gigantic woes and wrongs ; 

Here a proud dome, and there a foetid cell, 

Their tales of tyranny and crime can tell ; 
Here princely halls resound with cheerful songs ; 
Near festering grave-yards rank with human clay, 

Here empty churches and vast crowded marts 

Too plainly show the secret of our hearts, 
And prove that Mammon holds no weakly sway." 

1 . A town of the Netherlands. 

2. A musical entertainment. 

3. A town of Gloucestershire. 

4. Absolute power. 

5. A village of Upper Egypt. 

6. A countv of Scotland. 



DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 95 

CVI. 

" Near yonder copse, where once the garden smiled, 
And still where many a garden flower grows wild, 
There, where a few torn shrubs the place disclose, 
The village preacher's modest mansion rose. 
A man he was to all the country dear, 
And passing rich with forty pounds a year ; 
Remote from towns he ran his godly race, 
Nor e'er had changed, nor wished to change his 

place. 
His house was known to all the vagrant train, 
He chid their wanderings, but relieved their pain ; 
The long-remember'd beggar was his guest, 
Whose beard descending swept Iris aged breast ; 
The broken soldier, kindly bade to stay, 
Sat by his fire, and talk'd the night away ; 
Wept o'er his wounds, or tales of sorrow done, 
Shoulder' d his crutch, and show'd how fields were 
won." 

1. A pleasant sound to sportsmen. 

2. An ecclesiastical curse. 

3. A searcher for happiness. 

4. Lazy and inactive. 

5. A Greek poetess. 

6. A retailer of small goods. 



96 



DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 



CVII. 

" The open cart-shed — shed and gate in one ; 
The pigs and heifers basking in the sun, 
The rugged rails, the fagot-pile beyond, 
The hoof-poached edge of the green-mantled pond 
Its marge and surface with white feathers dotted, 
The high-ridged barn with orange lichen spotted ; 
Rude plenty everywhere, if somewhat slattern, 

That seemed akin to Nature's liberal ways, 
All alien from the trim right-angled pattern 
That science fits her farms to now-a-days." 
" The heavy hay-piled wains roll in, 
Where with song and bantering din, 
Stamping feet press down the mow, 
Behind the tall elms' windy row, 
Till all the air for miles away 
Breathes of fresh and fragrant hav." 



1. 


A short musical overture. 


2. 


Books of doubtful truth. 


3. 


A chaplet. 


4. 


A Eoman grammarian 


5. 


Benjamin. 


6. 


An open space. 


7. 


Persuasive orator v. 


8. 


Evening. 



DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 97 



CVIII. 

THE FIRST IS THE SUMMER DRESS OF 
THE SECOND. 

" The poplars are felled ; farewell to the shade, 
And the whispering sound of the cool colonnade ; 
The winds play no longer and sing in the leaves, 
ISTor Ouse on his bosom their image receives. 
Twelve years have elapsed since I first took a 

view 
Of my favourite field, and the bank where they 

grew ; 
And now in the grass behold they are laid, • 
And the tree is my seat that once lent me a shade. 
The blackbird lias fled to another retreat, 
Where the hazels afford him a screen from the 

heat, 
And the scene where his melody charm'd me be- 
fore 
Resounds with his sweet-flowing ditty no more." 



1. A floor. 

2. Not subject to rule. 

3. Presumption. 

4. A city of Italy. 



98 DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 



CIX. 

" Let not ambition mock their useful toil, 

Their homely joys, and destiny obscure; 
Nor grandeur hear with a disdainful smile, 

The short and simple annals of the poor. 
The boast of heraldry, the pomp of power, 

And all that beauty, all that wealth e'er gave, 
Awake alike th' inevitable hour : 

The paths of glory lead but to the grave." 

1. A cover placed on a boat. 

2. A mover of sedition. 

3. The richest province of Brazil . 

4. Natural aptness. 

5. A town in Norfolk and Suffolk. 

6. A seaport in Ayrshire. 

7. A district in Swabia. 

8. A month in the year. 



DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 99 



CX. 

' A peasant to his lord paid yearly court, 
Presenting pippins, of so rich a sort, 
That he, displeased to have a part alone, 
Removed the tree, that all might be his own. 
The tree, too old to travel, though before 
So fruitful, withered, and would yield no more. 
1 Oh ! ' then he cried, ' that I had been content 
With tribute, small indeed, but kindly meant ! 
My avarice has expensive proved to me, 
Has cost me both my pippins and my tree."' 

1. A monk's hood. 

2. One of the smaller Sandwich Islands. 

3. An inclination to do wrong. 

4. Sunburnt. 

5. Belonging to a university. 

6. A river of Naples. 

7. A town in the Duchy of Nassau. 

8. An authentic memorial. 



h 2 



100 DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 



CXI. 

: All foaming down its native hills 

The torrent of Arabia leaps, 
"When showers have swelled its fountain rills 

Far up the blue and airy steeps ; 
Like some chafed steed that spurns the rein, 

In raging fulness, swift and free, 
It rushes to the fiery plain, 

Bounding to reach the distant sea. 
But ere the wide and wild expanse 

Of Akhaf 's burning sand is crossed, 
That stream, so full and foaming once, 

Sinks on its rough way, spent and lost : 
Lost in its sultry wanderings, 

And hushed in an eternal sleep, 
It wastes unseen, and never brings 

One tribute to the mighty deep." 

1 . The result of a computation. 

2. A town of Naples. 

3. An encourager of another. 

4. An active, stirring man. 

5. Incapable of mistake. 

6. A master of the art of numbers. 

7. Careless treatment. 



DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 101 



CXII. 

' Hark ! the sound of the revel ! — 'tis the dance, 
the glowing song ! 

Amid life's stern realities they cannot linger long ; 

On — on — while all lovely dreams are springing 
fresh and warm, 

While feelings burst their thraldom in the magic 
of the charm ! 

Can a sudden cloud, at will, 
Bid the throbbing pulse be still, 

Hush the music, quench the lights, with its deso- 
lating power ? 

■ Hush ! the voice of the singer breathes its 

tenderness around ! 

What eloquence e'er sank so deep as that en- 
trancing sound ! 

With its full melodious earnestness, it fills the 
inmost heart, 

Waking echoes, which through after years never 
all depart ! " 

1. An old-fashioned military engine. 

2. A river of Brazil. 

3. A present. 

4. A group of islands in the Tuscan Sea. 

5. A large imaginary bird. 

6. A would-be regicide. 

7. A town of Portugal. 

8. A ruffian. 



102 DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 



cxin. 
THE AUTHOK OF THESE LINES. 

" Such was the night, so lovely, still, serene, 
When, by a hermit thorn that on the hill 
Had seen a hundred flowery ages pass, 
A damsel kneeled to offer up her prayer — 
Her prayer nightly offered, nightly heard ; 
This ancient thorn had been the meeting place 
Of love before his country's voice had called 
The ardent youth to fields of honour far 
Beyond the wave ; and hither now repaired, 
Nightly, the maid, by God's all-seeing eye 
Seen only, while she sought this boon alone, — 
Her lover's safety and his quick return." 

1. A signal for admission. 

2. To surpass. 

3. A biographer of the eighteenth century. 

4. A spy. 

5. A political economist. 

6. A hand-barrow. 



DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 103 

CXIV. 

'Full sore rock'd the cavern whene'er he drew 

nigh, 
The fire on the altar blaz'd bick'ring and high ; 
In volcanic explosions the mountains proclaim 
The dreadful approach of the Monarch of Flame. 
Unmeasured in height, undistinguish'd in form, 
His breath it was lightning, his voice it was 

storm ; 
I ween the stout heart of Count Albert was tame, 
When he saw in his terrors the Monarch of Flame, 
From Lebanon's forests to Galilee's wave, 
The sands of Samaar drank the blood of the brave ; 
Till the Knights of the Temple, and Knights of 

St. John, 
With Salem's King Baldwin against him came 

on." 

1. A woody tract. 

2. Easily understood. 

3. An important state. 

4. To put under water. 

5. A sad bell. 

6. A Greek island. 

7. A banker. 

8. A sloping bank. 



104 DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 



CXV. 

" The mariner, whose eye is bright, 

Whose beard with age is hoar, 
Is gone : and now the wedding guest 

Turned from the bridegroom's door. 
He went like one that has been stunned, 

And is of sense forlorn ; 
A sadder and a wiser man 

He rose the morrow morn." 

1. A mineral salt. 

2. The goddess of funeral songs. 

3. One of the earliest English poets. 

4. A son of Asher. 

5. A heathen shepherd. 

6. A sweet singing bird. 

7. A Scotch historian. 



DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 105 



CXVI. 

" There the green emerald, there cornelian glow, 
And rich carbuncles pour eternal light, 

With all that India and Peru can show, 
Or Labrador can give so flaming bright 
To the charmed mariner's half-dazzled sight : 

The coral-paved baths with diamonds blaze ; 
And all that can the female heart delight 

Of fair attire, the last recess displays, 

And all that luxury can ask, her eye surveys." 

1. A lively amusement. 

2. A cluster of islands in the South Pacific Ocean. 

3. To make free. 

4. A luminous body in the air. 

5. A small group of islands in the West Indies. 

6. A town of Hindostan, on the Ganges. 

7. An academical degree. 



106 DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 



CXVII. 

" Oh ! I shall not forget, until memory depart, 
When first I beheld it, the glow of my heart, 
The wonder, the awe, the delight that stole o'er 

me, 
When its billowy boundlessness opened before me. 
As I stood on its margin, or roamed on its strand, 
I felt new ideas within me expand, 
Of glory and grandeur, unknown till that hour, 
And my spirit was mute in the presence of power ! 
Tn the surf-beaten sands that encircled it round, 
In the billows' retreat, and the breaker's rebound, 
In its white- drifted foam, and its dark-heaving 

green, 
Each moment I gazed, some fresh beauty was seen. 
And thus, while I wandered on ocean's bleak shore, 
And surveyed its vast surface, and heard its waves 

roar, 
I seemed wrapt in a dream of romantic delight, 
And haunted by majesty, glory, and might !" 



1. A Greek geographer. 

2. An unreasonable critic. 

3. A kind of eagle. 

4. A province of Chili. 

5. The act of overthrowing. 



DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 107 



CXVI1I. 

I bring fresh showers for the thirsting flowers 

From the seas and the streams ; 
I bear light shade for the leaves when laid 

In their noonday dreams. 
From my wings are shaken the dews that waken 

The sweet birds every one, 
When rocked to rest on their mother's breast, 

As she dances about the sun. 
I wield the flail of the lashing hail, 

And whiten the green plains under ; 
And then again I dissolve it in rain, 

And laugh as I pass in thunder. 
I sift the snow on the mountains below, 

And their great pines groan aghast ; 
And all the night 'tis my pillow white, 

While I sleep in the arms of the blast." 

1. An evening bell. 

2. Vitrified matter. 

3. Equipment for travelling. 

4. A very fine colour. 

5. An old-fashioned musical instrument. 



108 DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 



CXIX. 

The sky was blue; without one cloud of gloom, 
The sun of March was shining brightly, 
And to the air the freshening wind gave lightly 
Its breathings of perfume. 
When one beholds the dusky hedges blossom, 
A rustic bridal, ah ! how sweet it is ! 
To sounds of joyous melodies, 
That touch with tenderness the trembling bosom, 
A band of maidens 
Gaily frolicking, 
A band of youngsters 
Wildly rollicking ! 
While the bride, with roguish eyes, 
Sporting with them now escapes and cries, 
' Those who catch me 
Married verily 
This year shall be ! ' " 

1. A special obligation. 

2. Below the world. 

3. Money. 

4. A wood used for dyeing. 
•5. The winter cherry. 

6. A noted Greek physician. 

7. A village of Norway. 



DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 109 

cxx. 

" Wail and weep, 

For England's king plows the deep ! 

Tremble, watchmen, as ye spy 

From distant towers, with anxious eye, 

The radiant range of shield and lance, 

Down Damascus' hills advance : 

From Sion's turrets as afar 

Ye ken the march of Europe's war ! 
Proud Saracen, pollute no more 
The shrines by martyrs built of yore ! 
From each wild mountain's trackless crown, 
In vain thy gloomy castles frown : 
Thy battering engines, huge and high, 
In vain our steel-clad steeds defy ; 
And, rolling in terrific state 
On giant- wheels harsh thunders grate." 

1. A town in England, long the resi- 

dence of John Kyrle. 

2. A town of Carniola. 

3. An ornamental ocean product. 

4. An exclamation of praise. 

5. Frightened. 

6. A town of Naples. 

7. Scorn. 



110 DOUBLE ACEOSTICS. 



CXXI. 

" Restless forms of living light, 
Quivering on your lucid wings, 
Cheating still the curious sight 
With a thousand shadowings ; 
Yarious as the tints of even, 
Gorgeous as the hues of heaven, 
Reflected on your native streams 
In flitting, flashing, billowy gleams. 
Harmless warriors clad in mail 
Of silver breastplate, golden scale ; 
Mail of Nature's own bestowing, 
With peaceful radiance mildly glowing ; 
Keener than the Tartar's arrow, 
Sport ye in your sea so narrow." 

1. A harpoon. 

2. An island of Japan. 

3. A young girl. 

4. Expedition. 

5. A mixed metal. 

6. A beautiful territory of Europe. 



DOUBLE ACROSTICS. Ill 



CXXII. 

" That's 
A knowledge every one can get by heart ; 

Not so with ■ Let the curious start, 

With book and plan to trace its wandering course, 
Like Speke and Grant, the Nile, up to its source ; 
Its streams run back until you end the chase, 
And stand amazed upon the brink of space. 
Some think when Newton viewed the planets roll, 
A thought of this, then glanced athwart his soul." 

" When one would aim an arrow fair, 

But send it slackly from the string ; 
And one would pierce an outer ring, 
And one an inner, here and there ; 
And last, the master-bowman ; he 
Would cleave the mark." 

1 . A human monster. 

2. Used for loading guns. 

3. An organ of sight. 

4. Felt by many people at sea. 

5. Impracticable. 

6. A person of high rank. 

7. A city remarkable for its siege. 



112 DOUBLE ACKOSTICS. 



CXXIII. 

" The Chesapeake so bold, came from Boston, I'm 
told, 
To take an English, frigate, neat and handy, ; 
The people in the port came out to see the sport, 
With the music playing 'Yankee Doodle 
Dandy, ! '" 

1. A King of Ithaca, famous in the Trojan 

war. 

2. A negative. 

3. A severe cold. 

4. A small bird. 

5. One who burnt herself on the funeral 

pile of her husband. 

6. The island where Apollo was born. 

ex XIV. 

" See the labours of thy sons, 
How we till and toil and spin ; 
See, see around ! all our strength and wit can do, 
Lo, all is here ! " 



1. A Bishop of Crete. 

2. Possession by right. 

3. A town of Naples. 

4. An American goose. 





DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 


113 




cxxv. 






AN EMINENT MAN. 




" Methinks she sees the giant spirit standing 


defiant before the Imperial Diet, scornfully bui 


•ning 


the Papal 


Bull, kindling the flame which man 


shall 


never quench, protected by a prince, potent 


and 


pious." 






1. 


A remembrance. 




2. 


A mining town of Hanover. 




3. 


A stream. 




4. 


A pretty bird. 




5. 


A hero in a well-known romance. 




6. 


A noted river of Central Africa. 

cxxvi. 
TWO ANCIENT QUEENS. 




1. 


An interesting kind of letter. 




2. 


A fossil that will separate in threads, 




but not consume by fire. 




3. 


A clan. 




4. 


The mother of Manasseh. 




5. 


A musical instrument. 




6. 


A particular kind of tooth. 





114 DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 



CXXVII. 

TWO EMPORIUMS. 

" Th' Exchange soon met his wond'ring sight. 
The structure filled him with delight ; 
He entered now, and heard within 
The crowded mart a buzzing din ; 
A sound confus'd — the serenade 
Of ardent gain and busy trade." 

1. A crowd. 

2. A noted Spanish minister. 

3. A town of Hindostan. 

4. A peculiar kind of numerical verse 

5. One of the sons of Eli. 

6. A dainty person. 

7. An ancient weapon. 

8. A Roman governor. 



9. A prophet of Israel 
10. A border. 



DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 115 

CXXVIII. 

"For from, his cradle lie had never seen 
Soul-cheering sunbeams, or wild Nature's green. 
But all life's blessings centre not in sight : 
For Providence, that dealt him one long night, 
Had given, in pity, to the blooming boy- 
Feelings more exquisitely tuned to joy. 
Fond to excess was he of all that grew ; 
The morning blossom sprinkled o'er with dew, 
Each varying leaf that brushed where'er he came, 
Pressed to his rosy lip, he called by name ; 
He grasped the saplings, measured every bough, 
Inhaled the fragrance that the spring months 

throw 
Profusely round, till his young heart confessed 
That all was beauty, and himself was blessed. 
Yet when he traced the wide extended plain, 
Or clear brook-side^ he felt a transient pain ; 
The keen regret of goodness, void of pride, 
To think he could not roam without a guide." 

1. That assemblage of graces, pleasing 

to the eye. 

2. A gay deceiver. 

3. A river of Paraguay. 

4. Nearest in gradation. 

5. A moat. 



i 2 



116 DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 


CXXIX. 


A NAME, AND ITS GREEK SIGNIFICATION. 


" My love an orient pearl resembles, 


With gentle lustre, dazzling less 


Than the living blaze that trembles 


In the diamond's valued stone ; 


But art enhanced the brilliant's worth, 


And polished all its splendour forth ; 


"While Nature formed the pearl alone, 


In pure and simple loveliness. 


My love is like the daisy, blowing 


In every season, fresh and fair, 


While brighter flowers are only glowing 


When summer's radiant smiles are given ; 


Yet with no lovelier hues that streak 


That modest flower, on Meta's cheek ; 


Grateful for every glance of heaven, 


The dew, the shower, the common air." 


1. A place for making money. 


2. What the oars of a boat should be made of. 


3. A smart reply. 


4. A breach. 


5. A town of France on the Drome. 


6. A food for invalids. 


7. An office in the Presbyterian Church. 


8. A shaft of a wagon. 



DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 117 



CXXX. 

" The muffled drum is rolling, and the bugle peals 

its sound, 
And the footsteps of the soldiery tramp on the 

tented ground ; 
And there is one who does not weep, as though 

he did not know, 
That the nation's heart is breaking fast beneath 



its storm of woe. 
One eye that doth not quail, one foot that's ever 

firm of tread, 
As he moves, like saints in pictures, with a glory 

round his head ! 
But the drums they roll more fearfully to drown 

the shriek of woe, 
And the multitude, like stormy waves, are heaving 

to and fro ; 
And the man of blood and sin and death has 

crept him from his lair, 
And the scaffold's strewn with sawdust, and the 

battle-axe is bare." 

1. Sometimes sweet. 

2. Inflammable air. 

3. Wonderful. 

4. One opposed to lawful authority. 

5. A lake of European Russia. 

6. A distinguished lawyer. 

7. A measure of time. 



118 DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 



CXXXI. 

" Victor of Assaye's orient plain, 
Yictor of all the fields of Spain, 
Victor of France's despot reign, 
Thy task of glory done ! 
Welcome ! from dangers greatly dared, 
From triumphs with the vanquished shared, 
From nations saved, and nations spared, 

Unconquered .... 

Thine was the sword which justice draws, 
Thine was the pure and generous cause 
Of holy rites and human laws, 
The impious thrall to burst ; 
And thou wast destined for thy part ! 
The noblest mind, the firmest heart, 
Artless, but in the warrior's art, — 
And in that art the first." 

1. Exasperated. 

2. A celebrated cardinal at the French court. 

3. A grand ornament of marble or stone. 



4. Unmeaning language. 



DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 119 



CXXXII. 

« Oft when in quiet sleep she dozed, 

I've thought, as now, my love had died ; 
But then again her eyes unclosed 

On me, and gentle words were sigh'd, 
That sunk into my listening soul. 

The fresh bloom that with health decay' d, 
Now back into her face hath stole, 

Only to mock my grief and fade. 

" Now every hope and fear is past, 

And thou art gone, sweet patient saint ! 
That gentle voice is hush'd at last, 

Then let me weep without restraint. 
Alas, alas ! it seemeth strange 

That I may weep thus wildly now, 
And see no meek reproach, no change 

In those dear eyes, that lovely brow ! " 

1. Celerity. 

2. A half-moon. 

3. One of the Bahama Islands. 
'4. Improper appropriation. 

5. A soft, shaggy cloth. 



120 • DOUBLE ACKOSTICS. 



CXXXIII. 

Fkeedom has a thousand charms to show, 
That slaves, howe'er contented, never know ; 
The mind attains beneath her happy reign 
The growth that Nature meant she should attain. 
The varied fields of science, ever new, 
Opening and wider opening on her view, 
She ventures onward with a prosperous force, 
While no base fear impedes her in her course." 

1. What we all love. 

2. A large open vessel. 

3. A vindictive goddess. 

4. A bird of prey. 

5. A celebrated mathematician. 

6. A town of Naples. 

7. An American root. 



DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 121 



CXXXIV. 

" Black, and weather- warped, and old, 
Looking o'er the windy wold, 
Gaunt and grim and rearing high 
Its ragged sails against the sky. 
Births and deaths, with lives between, 
Of many a miller it hath seen ; 
Many a pair of stones worn out, 
Many a set of gearing stout ; 
But change of fashion, time and tide, 
The ancient mill hath still defied. 
In its place upon the hill — 
Sweeping sails or standing still — 
Emblem of enduring will, 
Serving with a constant mind, 
Though it serve the inconstant wind." 

1. A political party. 

2. An inciter to wrong. 

3. A town of Hindostan. 

4. An incipient light. 

5. A fabulous sea creature. 

6. A village of Spain. 

7. The author of " Pharsalia." 

8. A kind of shining silk. 



122 DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 



cxxxv. 

" Three poets, in three distant ages born, 
Greece, Italy, and England did adorn 
The first in loftiness of thought surpass' d, 
The next in majesty ; in both the last. 
The force of Nature could no further go ; 
To make a third, she join'd the other two.' 

1. Judicial sentence. 

2. A Jewish doctor. 

3. A small vessel. 

4. Food. 

5. One of the smaller Kurile Islands. 

6. A prophet. 



DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 123 


CXXXVI. 


CAPITALS. 


" Here, Napoleon, on entering the palace on the 


occasion of his visit to install Joseph Buonaparte in 


his kingdom, placed his hand on one of the white 


marble lions (which crouch on the balustrades), 


turned to Joseph, and exclaimed, ' Mon frere, vous 


serez mieux loge que moi ! ' " 


1. A title of Indian Koyalty. 


2. A war-like people of Scythia. 


3. The founder of Troy. 


4. A kind of spiral line. 


5. A town of Portugal. 


6. The name of a useful field plant. 



124 DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 



CXXXVII. 

THE NAME OF A POEM. 

" It is the hush of night, and all between 
Thy margin and the mountains, dusk, yet clear, 
Mellowed and mingling, yet distinctly seen, 

Save darkened Jura, whose capped heights appear 
Precipitously steep ; and drawing near, 
There breathes a liviDg fragrance from the shore, 

Of flowers yet fresh from childhood : on the ear 
Drops the light drip of the suspended oar, 
Or chirps the grasshopper, one good-night carol 
more." 

1. A comfortable seat. 

2. A triumphant shout. 

3. An accuser. 

4. A game at cards. 

5. Sad. 

6. A township of Durham. 



DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 125 




CXXXVIII. 




TWO MEN. 


i 


' Oh, pass ye by the aged, 




With gentle step and slow ; 




They have the burden of years to bear, 




And the tide of their life is low. 


i 


' Speak kindly as ye greet them, 




For thier world is dim and cold, 




And a beaming look from a youthful heart 




Is the sunlight of the old." 


1. 


A sheep. 


2. 


Enchantment. 


3. 


The metropolis of Syria, 


4. 


A village of Denmark. 


5. 


An officer of the Inland Revenue. 


6. 


Often a pet animal. 


7. 


An anagrammatical transposition of letters. 


8. 


A disagreeable smelling gum. 


9. 


A small mug. 



126 DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 



CXXXIX. 

" Though thy clime 
Be fickle, and thy year most part deform'd 
With dripping rains or wither' d by a frost, 
I would not yet exchange thy sullen skies 
And fields without a flower, for warmer France, 
With all her vines ; nor for Ausonia's groves 
Of golden fruitage, and her myrtle bowers. . . . 
..." Wert thou all that I wish thee — 
Great, glorious, and free, 
First flower of the earth, 
First gem of the sea, 
• I might hail thee with prouder, 
With happier brow ! 
But oh ! could I love thee 
More deeply than now 1 " 

1 . A river of Upper Languedoc. 

2. One not engaged on either side. 

3. Jupiter's cup-bearer, 
■i. A poetess. 

5. A celebrated Hun. 

6. A history. 

7. The lot of an unfortunate race-horse. 



DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 127 



CXL. 

John Gilpin's spouse said to her dear. 

' Though, wedded we have been 
These twice ten tedious years, yet we 

No holiday have seen. 

' To-morrow is our wedding-day, 

And we will then repair 
Unto the Bell at Edmonton, 
All in a chaise and pair ! '" 

1. A useful bone to man, 

2. A juicy fruit. 

3. A philanthropist. 

4. Exigency. 

5. Imaginary spirits. 

6. Enquiry. 

7. A town of Germany. 

8. A very thick kind of paper. 

9. A northern island. 
10. Innovation. 



128 DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 


CXLI. 


A POET AND A DIVINE. 


" Between friend and friend 


Prose answers every common end ; 


Serves, in a plain and homely way, 


To express the occurrence of the day. 


Our health, the weather, and the news, 


What walks we take, what books we choose ; 


And all the floating thoughts we find 


Upon the surface of the mind." 


1. A stop. 


2. Open violence. 


3. A village on the Lea. 


4. A good kind of wine. 


5. A town of Egypt. 


6. A rather uncommon colour for a 


horse. 



DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 129 



CXLII. 

A QUEEN AND A DISCOVERER. 

Long on the deep the mists of morning lay, 
Then rose, revealing as they rolled away 
Half circling hills, whose everlasting woods 
Sweep with their sable skirts the shadowy floods, 
And say, when all, to holy transport given, 
Embraced and wept as at the gates of Heaven, 
When one and all of us, repentant, ran, 
And, on our faces, blessed the wondrous man." 



1. 


A poetic foot. 


2. 


A. thrust with a rapier. 


3. 


Of uncertain authority. 


4. 


A town of Persia. 


5. 


Reverential affection. 


6. 


A young animal. 


7. 


A seaport of European Russia. 


8. 


A noted work of Xenophon's. 



130 DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 



CXLIII. 

" Two neighbours furiously dispute 
A field — the subject of the suit. 
Trivial the spot, yet such the rage 
With which the combatants engage, 
'Twere hard to tell, who covets most 
The prize — at whatsoever cost. 
The pleadings swell. Words still suffice 
No single word but has its price : 
No term but yields some fair pretence 
For novel and increased expense. 
The second thus becomes a name, 
Which he, that bore it, may disclaim ; 
Since both, in one description blended, 
Are the first — when the suit is ended." 

1. An isolated place for cattle. 

'2. A German title. 

3. A village of Egypt. 

4. Not to be broken. 

5. A denial. 

6. Faithful and honest. 

7. Mental imagination. 

8. A noted Arctic explorer. 

9. A slender thread. 



DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 131 



CXLIV. 

" She warned him by a scroll, 
She had a secret to reveal, 
That much concerned the Church's weal, 
And health of sinner's soul ; 
And, with deep charge of secrecy, 
She named a place to meet, 
Within an open balcony, 
That hung from dizzy pitch, and high 

Above the stately street 

.... At night in secret there they came, 
The pilgrim and the holy dame. 
The moon among the clouds rode high, 
And all the city hum was by; 
Upon the street, where late before 
Did din of war, and warriors roar, 
You might have heard a pebble fall, 
A beetle hum, a cricket sing, 
An owlet flap his boding wing- 
On Giles's steeple tall." 

1. A City on the Scheldt. 

$. A healing pool. 

3. A kind of hawk. 

4. Equality of weight. 

5. An inventory. 

6. A hard white metal. 



j 2 



132 DOUBLE ACKOSTICS. 



CXLV. 

" The beams of April, ere it goes, 
A worm, scarce visible, disclose ; 
All winter long content to dwell 
The tenant of his native shell. 
The same prolific season gives 
The sustenance by which he lives • 

A simple store 

That serves him — till he needs no more ! 
For his dimensions once complete, 
Thenceforth none ever sees him eat ; 
Though, till his growing time be past, 
Scarce ever is he seen to fast." 

1. A hautboy. 

2. A river of Brazil. 

3. A town of Bohemia. 

4. A protuberance. 

5. A beautiful river in South Wales. 

6. A survivor. 

7. A messenger. 

8. Legendary lore. 



DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 133 




CXLVI. 


< 


' I stood on the bridge at midnight, 




As the clocks were striking the hour, 




And the moon rose o'er the city 




Behind the dark church tower; 


i 


I saw her bright reflection 




In the waters under me, 




Like a golden goblet falling 




And sinking into the sea. 


i 


How often, 0, how often, 




In the days that had gone by, 




I had stood on that bridge at midnight 




And gazed on that wave and sky ! 


it 


And I think how many thousands 




Of care-encumbered men, 




Each bearing his burden of sorrow, 




Have crossed the bridge since then !" 


1. 


A town of Austria. 


2. 


A tree of the willow kind. 


3. 


A town of Italy. 


4. 


The name of Sir Isaac Newton's small dog. 


5. 


Fifteen acres of land. 


6. 


A comment. 



134 DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 



CXLVII. 

The Son of God is gone to war, a kingly crown 

to gain, 
His blood-red banner streams afar ! Who follows 

in his train 1 
Who best can drink the cup of woe, triumphant 



over pain 



Who boldest bears his cross below 1 he follows in 

his train. 
The martyr first, whose eagle-eye could pierce be- 
yond the grave, 
Who saw his Master in the sky, and call'd on Him 

to save, 
Like Him, with pardon on his tongue, in midst of 

mortal pain, 
He pray'd for them who did the wrong. Who 

follows in his train? 
A noble army, men and boys, the matron and the 

maid, 
Around their Saviour's throne rejoice, in robes of 

light array'd ; 
They climb the dizzy steep of heav'n, through 

peril, toil, and pain, 
And oh ! to us may grace be giv'u, to follow in 

their train." 

1. A province of Hindostan. 

2. A poor poet. 

3. One of the largest rivers in the; world. 

4. A. popular preacher and author. 
•5. The first King cf the Assyrians. 



DOUBLE ACEOSTICS. 135 



CXLVIII. 

" I have been dreaming of the happy past, 

Of many a smile that I no more shall see ; 
Of scenes and hopes too bright, too blest to last, 
That never more shall shed their light on me ! 

" I have been dreaming of my childhood's hours, 
Of the calm valley and the peaceful shade, 
Where my young hand first plucked the violet 
flowers, 
Where my young footsteps first 'mid roses 
strayed. 

" I have been dreaming of those cloudless years, 
When care or blight my spirit never knew; 
Ere life's bright flow' rets were bedewed with tears, 
And, winged with joy, time's silken pinions flew. 

" And from such dream with morn's pale glance I 
woke, 
To find life's barque still toss'd on sorrow's 
stream ; 
To feel, alas ! all happiness is broke, 

That joy and hope for me are now a dream ! " 

1. A temporary gallery. 

2. A waiting thief. 

3. The beauty of propriety, more than grandeur. 

4. A complete circle of the sciences. 

5. The father of Paris. 



136 



DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 



CXLIX. 
A MAN AND HIS FATHER. 

a "With liead awhile inclined, 
And eyes fast fix'd he stood, as one who pray'd, 
Or some great matter in his mind revolv'd : 
At last with head erect thus cried aloud, 
' Hitherto, lords, what your commands impos'd 
I have perform'd, as reason was, obeying, 
Not without wonder or delight beheld : 
Now of my own accord such other trial 
I mean to show you of my strength, yet greater, 
As with amaze shall strike all who behold ! ' " 

1. A valuable wood. 

2. One of the states of America. 

3. A favourite. 

4. One of the three Gorgons. 

5. A seaport of Syria. 

6. A town of Ireland. 



DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 137 



CL. 

" There is a bird, who by his coat, 
And by the hoarseness of his note, 

Might be supposed a crow ; 
A great frequenter of the church, 
Where bishop-like he finds a perch, 
And dormitory too " 

" Little inmate, full of mirth, 
Chirping on my kitchen hearth ; 
Wheresoe'er be thine abode, 
Always harbinger of good, 
Pay me for thy warm retreat, 
With a song more soft and sweet ; 
In return thou shalt receive, 
Such a strain as I can give." 



1. A town in France. 

2. A vapour measurer. 

3. An Italian painter. 

4. An island in the North Pacific Ocean. 

5. A water-fowl. 

6. A court of judicature. 

7. A requirement. 



138 


DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 




CLI. 


A ROMAN ORATOR AND A TYRANT. 


1. 


A Queen of Sweden. 


2. 


A cut. 


3. 


Flashing. 


4. 


A mountain of Greece. 


5. 


An Indian cane. 


6. 


Impenitence. 




CLII. 




A POPULAR WRITER. 


"The satire and ridicule of the author were 


always well 


lirected, and though coloured a little 


too highly, bear the clear impress of actual life and 


observation." 




1. 


A sack. 


■ 2. 


One of the Israelites who fought 




with David. 


3. 


A calendar. 


4. 


A defence. 


5. 


A Scotch poet. 


6. 


A deviation. 


7. 


The act of joining. 



DOUBLE ACEOSTICS. 139 



CLIII. 

" And now a river, charged with freight, 
And glassing in its flood, 
Town, tower, and bridge, and willowy ait, 
Where the swan rears her brood. 

" And towing-paths that passage ope 
On either reedy marge ; 
And teams that strain against the rope 
Of the low-laden barge." 

" Since to a stream the rillets ran, 
The streams to river grew; 
Yilest or noblest work of man, 
The water's set to do. 

" But at its purest never proud, 
'Tis glad to labour still ; 
Where through the willows clattering loud, 
You hear the busy mill." 

1. An Alpine tree. 

2. A King of Israel. 

3. The author of the " Rosciad." 

4. A winter vegetable. 



140 DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 



CLIY. 

" If sleep and death be truly one, 
And every spirit's folded bloom, 
Thro' all its intervital gloom, 
In some long trance should slumber on ; 

" Unconscious of the sliding hour, 
Bane of the body, might it last, 
And silent traces of the past 
Be all the colour of the flower : 

" So then were nothing lost to man ; 
So that still garden of the souls 
In many a figured leaf enrolls 
The total world since life began ; 

" And love will last as pure and whole 
As when he loved me here in time, 
And at the spiritual prime 
Rewaken with the dawning soul." 

1. A sweet and acid spirit. 

2. A town on the Adriatic. 

3. Being quite alone. 

4. Relaxation of restraint. 



DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 141 



CLV. 

" Heap on more wood ! — the wind is chill ; 
Bat let it whistle as it will, 
We'll keep our Christmas merry still ! . . . . 
****** 

The damsel donned her kirtle sheen 

The hall was dressed with holly green ; 
Forth to the wood did merry-men go, 

To gather in the mistletoe 

.... All hailed with uncontrolled delight, 
And general voice the happy night, 
That to the cottage, as the crown, 
Brought tidings of salvation down." 

1. A repository of curiosities. 

2. An intervening entertainment. 

3. An animal like a lizard. 

4. A dog. 

5 . A seaport of Italy. 

6. To sew up. 

7. A latin comic poet. 

8. A choice. 

9. A struggle. 



142 DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 



CLVI. 



J5AJJ 


JLiYllliV 11U.NO WJD r>j^.XJ xxhjX -lj-lj^^. 


1. 


A beacon. 


2. 


An Indian pipe. 


3. 


A lover of the arts. ■ 


4. 


A town in Yorkshire. 


5. 


Silent compliance. 


6, 


A delicate little bird. 


7. 


A fine paid to the Lord of the Manor. 



8. A Grecian moral philosopher. 

CLVII. 

AN EMBLEM OF CHARITY, AND AN EMBODIMENT 
OF TERROR. 

1. A small pocket. 

2. A river of Italy. 

3. Speed and activity. 

4. A journal. 

5. A town of Bavaria. 
G. A goblin. 

7. An occasional result of legal pro- 
ceedings. 



DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 143 



CLVIII. 

" There, bright and sumptuous palaces, 
With cool and verdant gardens interspersed ; 
There, towers of war that frown in massy strength ; 
While over all hangs the rich purple eve, 
As conscious of its being her last farewell 
Of light and glory to that fated city. 
And as our clouds of battle, dust and smoke, 
Are melted into air, behold ' the temple,' 
In undisturbed and lone serenity, 
Finding itself a solemn sanctuary 
In the profound of heaven ! " 

1. A short coat. 

2. The picturesque capital of a country. 

3. A romantic novelist. 

4. Not grieved for. 

5. A fainting fit. 

6. A general rule. 

7. A halt. 

8. Uncertain. 

9. An unfortunate Queen of France. 



144 DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 



CLIX. 

Ye quenchless stars ! so eloquently bright, 
Untroubled sentries of the shadowy night. 
While half the world is lapped in downy dreams, 
And round the lattice creep your midnight beams. 
How sweet to gaze upon your placid eyes, 
In lambent beauty looking from the skies ! 
And when oblivious of the world we stray 
At dead of night along some noiseless way, 
How the heart mingles with the moonlit hour, 
A s if the starry heavens suffused a power ! " 

1. A sign of the Zodiac. 

2. Dross. 

3. A ruler of the Pontifical States. 

4. Submission. 

5. A pathetic novelist. 



DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 14-5 

CLX. 
THE COMPOSERS OF THESE VERSES. 

I SAW from the beach, when the morniug was 
shining, 
A bark o'er the waters move gloriously on ; 
I came, when the sun o'er that beach was de- 
clining, 
The bark was still there, but the waters were 
gone ! 

Ah ! such is the fate of our life's early promise, 
So passing the spring- tide of joy we have 
known ; 
Each wave that we danced on at morning, ebbs 
from us, 
And leaves us, at eve, on the bleak shore 
alone." 

" But there are true hearts which the sight 

Of sorrow summons forth ; 
Though known in days of past delight, 

We knew not half their worth : 
How unlike some who have professed 

So much in friendship's name ; 
Yet calmly pause to think how best 

They may evade her claim." 

1. A species of dock. 

2. A town of Peru. 

3. A town of Sweden. 

4. Light land. 

5. A real being. 



146 DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 



CLXI. 

" But chief, besides the butts, there stand 
Bold Robin Hood and all his band ; 
Friar Tuck, with quarter-staff and cowl, 
Old Scathelocke, with his surly scowl ; 
Maid Marian, fair as ivor}^ bone, 
Scarlet, and Mutch, and Little John : 
Their bugles challenge all that will, 
In archery to prove their skill. 
The Douglas bent a bow of might, 
His first shaft centered in the white ; 
And when in turn he shot again, 
His second split the first in twain. 
From the king's hand must Douglas take, 
A silver dart, the archer's stake." 

1. A tumult. 

2. A solemn asseveration. 

3. A statesman and political writer, 1 8th century. 

4. The founder of Northumberland. 

5. A satirist. 

6. A sort of fit. 

7. Foreign. 

8. Contour. 

9. Precious. 



DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 147 



CLXII. 
OUB BEST FBIENDS. 

Because I know there is not one 
To think of me as thou hast done, 
From morn till starlight ; year by year 
Prom me thy smile repaid thy tear ; 
And fears for me — and no reproof 
When once I dared to stand aloof." 

1. What you always see on the surf. 

2. An Italian poet. 

3. Fleeting. 

4. A savoury dish. 

5. Equality of value. 

6. A name for a midshipman. 

CXLIII. 
TWO MOUNTAINS. 

1. Juicy. 

2. A Spanish island. 

3. An Indian title. 

4. A difference in exchange. 

5. A persuader. 



K 2. 



148 DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 



CLXIV. 

" The harp that once, through Tara's halls, 
The soul of music shed, 
Now hangs as mute on Tara's walls 
As if that soul were fled : 

" No more to chiefs and ladies bright, 
The harp of Tara swells ; 
The chord, alone, that breaks at night, 
Its tale of ruin tells. 

" Thus freedom now so seldom wakes ; 
The only throb she gives, 
Is when some heart indignant breaks, 
To show that still she lives ! " 

1. An honorary tomb. 

2. A wooden lever. 

3. A province of Hindostan. 

4. A supply of loss. 

5. A positive asserter. 



DOUBLE ACKOSTICS. 



149 



CLXV. 



" Behind, the wondrous city stretches dim 
With castle, spire, and column, from the line 

Of wavy Pentland The wondrous town 

That keeps not summer, when the summer comes, 

Without her gates, but takes it to her heart ! 

The mighty shadow of the castle falls 

At noon athwart deep gardens ; roses blow 

And fade in hearing of the chariot- wheel. 

High-lifted capital that look'st abroad, 

With the great couchant lion at thy side, 

O'er fertile plains embossed with woods and towns, 

O'er silent Leith's smoke-huddled spires and masts, 

O'er unlinked Forth, slow wandering with her isles, 

To ocean's azure, spreading faint and wide, 

O'er which the morning comes : if but thy spires 

Were dipped in deeper sunshine, tenderer shade, 

Through bluer heaven rolled a brighter sun, 

The traveller would call thee peer of Rome. " 



1. A Jewish curse. 

2. To excel in cunning. 

3. Extent of penetration. 

4. A river whose waters are said to intoxi- 

cate. 

5. A re-examination. 

6. A beautiful small island in the West 

Indies. 



150 DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 



CLXVI. 

Thou might'st have seen him at the midnight 

hour, 
When good men slept, and in light- winged dreams 

Ascended up to God in wasteful hall, 

With vigilance and fasting worn to skin 
And bone, and wrapt in most debasing rags, 
Thou might'st have seen him bending o'er his 

heaps, 
And holding strange communion with his gold. 
-x- -x- -x- -x- #■ -* 

* * . * * -x- -x- 

Of all that sold Eternity for Time, 
None bargained on so easy terms with death. 
Illustrious fool ! Nay, most inhuman wretch ! 
He sat among his bags, and, with a look 
Which hell might be ashamed of, drove the poor 
Away unalmsed ; and 'midst abundance died — 
Sorest of evils — died of utter want." 

1. A useful aperture. 

2. An oblique hint. 

3. An instrumental tune. 

4. The quintessence of a thing. 

5. A cunning fox. 



DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 151 

CLXVII. 

" Gentle Spring ! in sunshine clad, 
Well dost thou thy power display ! 
For winter maketh the light heart sad, 

And thou — thou makest the sad heart gay. 
He sees thee, and calls to his gloomy train, 
The sleet, and the snow, and the wind, and the 
rain \ 
And they shrink away, and they flee in fear, 
When thy merry step draws near. 

" Winter maketh the sun in the gloomy sky 
Wrap him round with a mantle of cloud ; 
But, heaven be praised, thy step is nigh, 

Thou tearest away the mournful shroud, 
And the earth looks bright, and winter surly, 
Who has toiled for nought both late and early, 
Is banished afar by the new-born year, 
When thy merry step draws near." 

1. A strong inclination. 

2. A smart blow. 

3. To injure. 

4. A mountain of Switzerland. 

5. A Roman historian. 

6. A leather strap. 



152 DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 



CLXVIII. 

DIFFERENT STYLES OF GOVERNMENT. 

Say, then, through ages by what fate confined 
To different climes seem different souls assigned 1 
Here, measured laws and philosophic ease, 
Fix and improve the polished arts of peace. 
There, industry and gain their vigils keep, 
Command the winds, and tame the unwilling deep. 
Here, force and hardy deeds of blood prevail ; 
There, languid pleasure sighs in every gale." 

1. A poisonous reptile. 

2. Applicable to a return railway ticket. 

3. A flower of many colours. 

4. A town of Austria, in Silesia. 

5. A dry measure. 

6. A competitor. 

7. The fixed salt of a body. 

8. Calamitous. 

9. The country of the Edomites. 
10. The blossom of the birch. 



DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 153 



CLXIX. 

" The curfew tolls the knell of parting day, 

The lowing herd winds slowly o'er the lea ; 
The ploughman homeward plods his weary way, 
And leaves the world to darkness and to me ! 

" Now fades the glimmering landscape on the sight, 
And all the air a solemn stillness holds ; 
Save where the beetle wheels his droning flight, 
And drowsy tinklings lull the distant folds," 

1. A celebrated whirlpool. 

2. A town of Hindostan. 

3. Destruction. 

4. Not true. 

5. An abstract. 

6. A celebrated engineer. 



lo4 DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 



CLXX. 
A POET AND DIVINE. 

' How fine has the day been, how bright was the 
sun, 
How lovely and joyful the course that he run ; 
Though he rose in a mist when his race he begun, 

And there followed some droppings of rain ! 
But now the fair traveller's come to the west, 
His rays are all gold, and his beauties are best ; 
He paints the sky gay, as he sinks to his rest. 
And foretells a bright rising again. 

"Just such is the Christian; his course he begins, 
Like the sun in a mist, when he mourns for his 

sins, 
And melts into tears ; then he breaks out and 
shines, 
And travels his heavenly way ; 
But when he comes nearer to finish his race, 
Like a fine setting sun, he looks richer in grace, 
And gives a sure hope, at the end of his days 
Of rising in brighter array." 

1. A meeting. 

2. An author of the nineteenth century. 

3. Consent. 

4. A crossbow. 

5. A breastplate. 



DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 155 



CLXXI. 

THE NAME OF AN ITALIAN POEM. 

" There is a place, so Ariosto sings, 
A treasury for lost and missing tilings ; 
Lost human wits have places there assigned them, 
And they who lose their senses, there may find 

them. 
But where's this place, this storehouse of the age 1 
The moon, says he ; but, I affirm, the stage. 
At least, in many things, I think I see 
His lunar and our mimic world agree ! " 

1 . A village of Saxony. 

2. A town of Prussia. 

3. A place to keep provisions in. 
■1. A town in Terra di Lavovo. 

5. A fort on the Gold Coast of Africa. 

6. A Rhodian, who died from joy at his three 

sons gaining prizes in the Olympic games. 

7. A lake in New York. 



156 DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 



CLXXII. 

" All the world's a stage, 
And all the men and women merely players ; 
They have their exits and their entrances, 
And one man in his time plays many parts, 
His act beino; seven a^es." 

1. Not being under the guidance of judgment. 

2. A savoury pancake. 

3. A mountain of Shetland. 

4. Part of a table. 

5. A benefice. 

CLXXIII, 
QUICK TRANSIT. 

1. The first derivation of anything. 

2. An esculent plant. 

3. An image. 

4. Bright renown. 

5. Argument. 



6. A proposal. 

7. ' The country of shepherds. 

8. A candle. 

9. A shallow incision. 



DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 157 



CLXXIV. 

Launch thy bark, mariner ! 
Christian, God speed thee ! 
Let loose the rudder bands, 
Good angels lead thee ! 
Set thy sails warily, 
Tempests will come ; 
Steer thy course steadily, 
Christian, steer home ! 
Look to the weather-bow, 
Breakers are round thee ; 
Let fall the plummet now, 
Shallows may ground thee ; 
Reef in the foresail there ! 
Hold the helm fast ! 
So — let the vessel wear — ■ 
There swept the blast." 

• 1. Milk and acids. 

2. A violent man. 

3. A fable. 

4. A town of Granada. 

5. Want. 

6. Submission to authority. 

7. A private talker. 

8. Rigorous accuracy. 



158 DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 



CLXXV. 

' ; This civil bickering and debate, 
The goddess chanced to hear ; 
And flew to save, ere yet too late, 
The pride of the parterre. 

" ' Yours is,' she said, ' the nobler hue, 
And yours the statelier mien ; 
And till a third surpasses you, 
Let each be deemed a queen.' 

" Thus soothed and reconciled, each seeks 
The fairest British fair ; 
The seat of empire is her cheeks, 
They reign united there." 

1. A repetition. 

2. The largest river in Asiatic Russia. 

3. The son of Cis. 

4. Uniformity. 



DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 159 



CLXXVI. 

THE FIRST REQUIRES THE SECOND. 

" Such knowledge gain'd betimes, and which appears 
Though solid, not too weighty for his years ; 
Sweet in itself, and not forbidding sport, 
When health demands it." 

1. Great state. 

2. A prescription. 

3. Explanatory. 

4. Useful to a ship. 

5. A particidar kind of verse. 

6. A province of Spain. 

7. A kingdom of Tartary. 

8. A mountainous canton in Switzerland. 

9. A Queen of Carthage. 
10. A freeholder of land. 



160 DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 



CLXXVII. 

" Upon that tender eye, my little friend, 

Soft sleep shall come, that cometh not to me ! 
I watch to see thee, nourish thee, defend ; 
'Tis sweet to watch for thee — alone for thee ! 

" His arms fall down ; sleep sits upon his brow, 
His eye is closed ; he sleeps, nor dreams of harm, 
Wore not his cheek the apple's ruddy glow, 

Would you not say he slept on Death's cold arm % 

" Awake, my boy ! I tremble with affright ! 

Awake, and chase this fatal thought ! Unclose 
Thine eye but for one moment on the light! 

Even at the price of thine, give me repose ! 

Sweet error ! he but slept ; I breathe again." 

1 . The wife of Antipholus of Ephesus. 

2. A water herb. 

3. The author of " Patchwork." 

4. A cold pendent. 

5. A celebrated English painter. 

6. A small quantity of liquid. 



DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 161 



CLXXVIII. 

" Ye mariners of England ! 

That guard our native seas, 
Whose flag has braved a thousand years 

The battle and the breeze, 
Your glorious standard launch again 

To match another foe, 
And sweep through the deep 

While the stormy tempests blow ; 
While the battle rages loud and long, 

And the stormy tempests blow." 

1 . An instrument of speech. 

2. A note of conjunction. 

3. Rejoicing in triumph. 

4. An ancient town of Sweden. 

5. A district of Bengal. 

6. A representation. 

7. Ancient. 

8. At the present time. 

9. A town of Germany. 

10. An iron block. 

1 1 . The hemispherical summit of a building. 

12. A monarch. 



162 DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 



CLXXIX. 
A PALACE AND A COUNTRY. 

" And must I leave, 

Dear land, thy bonny braes, thy dales, 

Each haunted by its wizard stream, o'erhung 

With all the varied charms of bush and tree ? 

And must I leave the friends of youthful years, 

And mould my heart anew to take the stamp 

Of foreign friendships in a foreign land, 

And learn to love the music of strange tongues 1 

Yes, I may love the music of strange tongues, 

And mould my heart anew to take the stamp 

Of foreign friendships in a foreign land. 

But to my parched mouth's roof cleave this 

tongue, 
My fancy fade into the yellow leaf, 
And this oft-pausing heart forget to throb, 
If ? ? thee and thine I e'er forget." 

1. A chasm. 

2. An interpreter of dreams. 

3. A country of India. 

4. A frothy liquid. 

5. A small brook. 

6. A town in European Turkey. 

7. Forgetfulness. 

8. An allotted part. 



DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 163 



CLXXX. 

Alas S they had been friends in youth ; 
But whispering tongues can poison truth ; 

And constancy lives in realms above ; 
And life is thorny, and youth is vain : 

And to be wroth with one we love, 

Doth work like madness in the brain. 

— Each spake words of high disdain 



And insult to his heart's best brother : 
They parted — ne'er to meet again. 

But never either found another 
To free the hollow heart from paining ; 
They stood aloof, the scars remaining, 

Like cliffs which had been rent asunder 

A dreary sea now flows between." 

■ 1. A light trimming. 

2. Lasting celebrity. 

3. Freedom. 

4. A moral device. 

5. A son of Jacob. 

6. A sluggard. 

7. A Roman tribune. 



L 2 



104 DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 



CLXXXI. 
ROMAN POETS. 

" Maria, could have guess'd 

What honour awaited his ode 
To his own little volume addressed, 

The honour which you have bestow' d, — 
Who have traced it in characters here, 

So elegant, even, and neat ; 
He had laughed at the critical sneer 

Which he seems to have trembled to meet. 

And sneer, if you please, he had said ; 

A nymph shall hereafter arise, 
Who shall give me, when you are all dead, 

The glory your malice denies." 

1. A shining liquid. 

2. An Austrian ambassador. 

3. A necessary part of a ship. 

4. A large mountain in the East. 

5. One of the five orders of architecture. 
G. Means of escape. 



DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 165 

CLXXXII. 

u Short is my tale. — Fitz-Eustace' care, 
A pierced and mangled body bare 
To that fair city's lofty pile ; 
And there, beneath the southern aisle,' 
A tomb, with Gothic sculpture fair, 
Did Ions: Lord Marmion's image bear. 
Xow vainly for its site you look ; 
'Twas levelled when fanatic Brook 
The fair cathedral stormed and took ; 



There erst was martial Marmion found, 



His feet upon a couchant hound, 
His hands to heaven upraised ; 
And all around, on scutcheon rich, 
And tablet carved, and fretted niche, 
His arms and feats were blazed." 

1. A vessel used for distilling. 

2. A small point. 

3. A companion. 

4. A sweet- smelling bulbous flower. 

5. A reward. 

6. A celebrated ancient poem. 

7. Abram's servant. 

8. A seller of purple. 

9. Ruin. 



166 


DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 




. CLXXXIII. 


" Long may he flourish 'midst the great and brave ! 


And fight his country's battles on the wave ; 


Then grateful Britain shall submissive bend, 


And bless that Being that gave her such a friend." 


1. 


A small useful article. 


2. 


Ensigns of royalty. 


3. 


Four. 


4. 


A large river of Russia. 


5. 


The cornelian cherry. 


6. 


A sect of physicians. 


7. 


The chief of the Molucca Islands. 


8. 


A sudden transition. 


9. 


A decree. 


10. 


A city of European Bussia. 


11. 


An ancient priest. 


12. 


A troublesome creditor. 



DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 167 



CXXXLIV. 

" Between Nose and Eyes a strange contest arose, 
The spectacles set them unhappily wrong ; 
The point in dispute was, as all the world knows, 

To which the said spectacles ought to belong. 
So the Tongue was the lawyer, and argued the cause, 
With a great deal of skill, and a wig full of 
learning, 
While Chief Baron Ear sat to balance the laws, 
So famed for his talent in nicely discerning. 



' On the whole it appears, and the argument 

shows, 

With a reasoning the court will never condemn, 
That the spectacles plainly were made for the Nose, 

And the Nose was as plainly intended for them.' 
Then, shifting his side, as a lawyer knows how, 

He pleaded again in behalf of the Eyes ; 
But what were his arguments few people know, 

For the court did not think they were equally wise. 
So his lordship decreed, with a grave, solemn tone, 

Decisive and clear, without one if or but,— 
That whenever the Nose put his spectacles on, 

By daylight or candlelight — Eyes should be 
shut. 

1. A god of the woods and forests. 

2. A Republic. 

3. Defamation. 

4. The voice of a quadruped, 
o. A habitable building. 



168 DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 



CLXXXV. 

" Unknown, uncared for, perhaps unnoticed too, 
But for her voice, which scarce could fail to sue 

Some listener by the way ; 
She glances upwards, sings as she goes by, 
And breathes the humid air • and oft doth sigh 
It should be so unlike her native sky, 

In bright Italian day, 

When first she heard the lay, 
' Ecco ! l'aurora d'un giorno glorioso.' 

•' And thus obey her will, those weary feet, 
Through smoky alley, lane, or dismal street, 

Tread step by step along. 
Not one she knows, scarce one would question 

' where ' 
Her rightful home, or why she strolleth there. 
The language of her voice is sweet and rare ; 

Unknown to that rough throng 

Who listen to her song, 



' Ecco ! l'aurora d'un giorno glorioso.' 

1. Ingenuity. 

2. A large lake of China. 

3. A circular letter. 

4. The close of the day. 

5. Beyond due bounds. 

6. The juice of pines. 



DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 169 



CLXXXVI. 
AN EMPEROR, AND WHAT HE WAS CROWNED WITH. 

1. A large island in the West Indies. 

2. A figure of seven sides. 

3. A city of Canaan. 

4. A purifier. 

5. An emperor of the East, called the 

philosopher. 

6. Destruction. 

7. A particular kind of painting. 

8. A helper. 

9. A cavern. 

10. Fresh. 

11. Consumption by fire. 

CLXXXVII. 
TWO NOTABLE SECTS. 

1. The goddess of shepherds. 

2. A many-headed monster. 

3. Assistance. 

4. A favourite resort near London. 

5. A promise to pay. 

6. One who doubts everything. 

7. A boundary lake of America. 

8. One of the Gorgons. 

9. A remainder. 



170 DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 



CLXXXVIII. 

" Witch-elms that counterchange the floor 

Of this flat lawn with dusk and bright ; 
And thou, with all thy breadth and height 
Of foliage, towering sycamore. 

" How often, hither wandering down, 

My Arthur found your shadows fair ; 
And shook to all the liberal air 
The dust and din and steam of town. 

" He brought an eye for all he saw ■ 

He mixt in all our simple sports ; 
They pleased him, fresh from brawling courts, 
And dirty purlieus of the law. 

" Oh ! joy to him in this retreat, 

Immantled in ambrosial dark, 
To drink the cooler air, and mark 
The landscape winking thro' the heat." 

1. The first word. 

2. The name of a fish. 

3. Over and above the number. 

4. Restored to liberty. 

5. The second word. 



DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 171 



CLXXXIX. 

" Slave of the dark and dirty mine ! 

What vanity hath brought thee here ? 
How can I love to see thee shine 

So bright, whom I have bought so dear ? 
For thee, for thee, vile yellow slave, 

I left a heart that loved me true ! 
I crossed the tedious ocean- wave, 

To roam in climes, unkind and new. 
The cold wind of the stranger blew 

Chill on my withered heart ; the grave 
Dark and untimely met my view — 

And all for thee, vile yellow slave ! 
Ha ! com'st thou now so late to mock 

A wanderer's banished heart forlorn ; 
Now that his frame the lightning shock 

Of sun-rays tipt with death was borne ! " 

1. A rural poem. 

2. A village of Upper Egypt. 

3. A town of Naples. 

4. The constant friend of Pythias. 



172 DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 



CXC. 

Silver in the sunshine, 

And golden in the shade, 
The corn stands ripe for shearer's gripe, 

And shearer's sickle-blade ; 
The ears that waved at morning, 

At eve shall low be laid. 

Onward press the shearers, 
The bandsters come behind ; 

The sickle clears the waving ears, 
The hands are quick to bind, 

For the ripening of the sunshine, 
And the drying of the wind. 

Humbly grew the wheat-ears 

In their russet weed, 
Now ripe and dry in sheaves they lie, 

To help poor human need ; 
For good from earth when severed, 

Most serves for food and seed." 

1. A puff. 

2. Neptune's horses. 

3. The scaling of walls. 

4. Towards the south. 

5. The number four. 



DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 173 



CXCI. 

"The odour of jasmines afloat on the breeze, 

That woke in the dawning the birds on each 
bough ; 
The frolicsome squirrels that scampered at ease, 
'Mid lithe leaves and soft moss that smiled 
down below. 
Heaps piled up of mangoes, all fragrant and rich ; 
Guavas pink-cored, such a wealth of sweet alms 
Presented by bright maids, whose sweet songs 
bewitch 
Under the palms ! 

" Pale, yellow bananas, with satiny pulp, 

That tastes like some dainty of sugar and cream ; 
Blithe-kernelled pomegranates, just gathered to 
help 
A feast fit to serve in the bowers of a dream. 
Trim baskets of melons, now gathered, beside 
Fair bunches of blossoms that heal all sick 
qualms ; 
And books when to reading our fancies subside 
Under the palms." 

1. To swallow up. 

2. A mother of pearl. 

3. A town of Bohemia. 

4. A sea-port on the Black Sea. 

5. The cap of state, used by English 

kings in the olden times. 

6. Eresh accounts of passing events. 



174 


DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 


j 


CXCIt. 




A CHRISTIAN MARTYR. 


1. 


A tribunal of justice. 


2. 


A sea-port of France. 


3. 


Calculation. 


4. 


A town in Moravia. 


5. 


A sky colour. 


. 6. 


Repayment. 


7. 


A lava rock, close to the Lipari Islands. 


8. 


A spectacle of entertainment. 


9. 


A village in Herefordshire. 


10. 


A military fort in California. 


11. 


Slavery. 


12. 


A jointure. 


13. 


A distance of sixty degrees. 


14. 


A child. 



DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 



175 



cxciii. 

' 'Such the gay splendour, the luxurious state 
Of caliphs old, who on the Tigris shore, 
In mighty Bagdad, populous and great, 

Held their bright court, where was of ladies 

store ; 
And verse, love, music, still the garland wore ; 
When sleep was coy, the bard in waiting there 
Cheered the lone midnight with the Muse's 
lore; 
Composing music bade his dreams be fair, 

And music lent new gladness to the morning 
air." 



1. A manger. 

2. A poem by Sir Gilbert Elliot. 

3. Cargo of a ship. 

4. Cross and spiteful. 

o. The goddess of fruits. 



6. 



Danger. 



176 DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 



CXCIY. 

" The sun sinks in yon western sea of gold, 

Among the isles of amethyst fringed with fire, 
Against whose glory, purple clear and cold, 
Stand gable roof, and elm and poplar spire. 

" Their image, at this still hour, stilly sleeps 

Within the pool, unstirred save where the fling 
Of rising dace, or swallow's dipping wing, 
Drives a slow shiver o'er its golden deeps. 

" This sun, that only sinks to rise again, 

Might heav'nward draw us in our pause of toil, 

Could but hard hearts cleanse them of sinful soil 

As hard hands wash them clear of labour's stain." 

1. Working without reward. 

2. A city of China. 

3. Judicial contest. 

•4. An Athenian orator. 

5. A title of cardinals. 

6. An absentee. 



DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 177 



CXCV. 

" Says the Pipe to the Snuff-box, ' I can't understand 
What the ladies and gentlemen see in your face, 
That you are in fashion all over the land, 
And I am so much fallen into disgrace. 

" 'Do but see. what a pretty contemplative air 

I give to the company — pray do but note 'em — 
You would think that the wise men of Greece 
were all there, 
Or, at least, would suppose them the wise men 
of Gotham.' 

" Then, lifting his lid in a delicate way, 

And opening his mouth, with a smile quite 
engaging, 
The Box, in reply, was heard plainly to say, 
' What a silly dispute is this we are waging ! 

" ' If you have a little of merit to claim, 

You may thank the sweet-smelling Virginian 
weed ; 
And I, if I seem to deserve any blame, 

The before-mention'd drug in apology plead.'" 

1. Shining lights. 

2. One of the masts of a ship. 

3. A gilding for ornaments. 



4. A village of Hungary. 

5. A wandering spirit. 



178 



DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 



' CXCVI. 

" Speed, speed upon thy way ! 

I send thee on a gentle errand ! — fly 
And work my bidding ere the parting ray 
Fades from the western sky. 

" In sunshine bathe thy breast, 

Stay not within the swift and glancing rill 
To dip thy wing for thee a sweeter rest 



Is waiting,- 



-on wards still !- 



-" One looks unto the west. 



It is for thee she watches; thou wilt be 
Soon by her hand, her gentle hand caress' d, 
How softly, tenderly ! 

Yet first beneath thy wing 

It trembles, while she seeks my message ; well 
She knows, ere yet her light touch frees the string, 

All that it hath to tell." 

1. The original copy of a writing. 

2. A cold repository. 

3. A sudden blast. 

4. A thrifty person. 

5. An opening flourish of music. 

6. The point opposite the zenith. 



DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 179 



CXCVII. 

' Oh, reader ! hast thou ever stood to see 

The winter tree ? 
The eye that contemplates it well, perceives 

Its glossy leaves 
Ordered by an Intelligence so wise, 
As might confound the atheist's sophistries. 

Below a circling fence, its leaves are seen 

Wrinkled and keen ; 
No grazing cattle through their prickly round 

Can reach to wound ; 
But as they grow where nothing is to fear, 
Smooth and unarmed the pointless leaves appear, 

And then, when all the summer trees are seen 

So bright and green, 
The faded leaves their dullest hues display, 

Less bright than they ; 
Bufc when the bare and wintry woods we see, 
What then so cheerful as this brightest tree ? " 

1. A particular kind of nail. 

2. An emblem of peace. 

3. A sprig of a plant. 

4. A kind of yellow varnish. 

5. A day that is past. 



180 



DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 



CXCVIII. 
COUSINS-GERMAN TO POETRY. 
"Fiiom Rome, awhile, how painting, courted long, 
With Poussin came : ancient design, that lifts 
A fairer front, and looks another soul. 
How the kind art, that, of unvalued price, 
The fam'd and only picture easy gives, 
Refin'd her touch, and, through the shadow'd piece 
All the live spirit of the painter pour'd. 
Coyest of arts, how sculpture northward deign'd 
A look, and bade her Girardon arise ! 
How lavish grandeur blaz'd ; the barren waste 
Astonish'd, saw the sudden palace swell, 
And fountains spout amid its arid shades." 

1. The capital of an important European 

country. 

2. A judicial inquiry. 

3. An odd fancy. 

4. Graced with conquest. 

5. A town of Carnata. 

6. A Peruvian patriot. 

7. A festival of the Episcopal Church. 

8. Duration without end. 



DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 181 



CXCIX. 

" In Gideon's fleece, which drench'd with dew he 
found, 
While moisture none refresh'd the herbs around, 
Might fitly represent the Church endow' d 
With heavenly gifts to heathens not allow'd ; 
In pledge, perhaps, of favours from on high, 
Thy locks were wet when others' locks were dry. 
Heaven grant us half the omen, — may we see 
No drought on others, but much dew on thee ! " 



1. A circular wind. 

2. One who is not truthful. 

3. The science of Divinity. 

cc. 

Sure, I say, Heav'n did but mean, 
Where I reap thou shouldst glean ; 
Lay thy sheaf, now, down and come, 
Share my harvest and my home." 

1. The oily part of a whale. 

2. A town of Bavaria. 

3. A fruit. 

4. The brother of Pharez. 



182 DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 



CCI. 

■ Through varied climes, o'er many a plain and 

steep, 
Doth England's vast colonial empire sweep ; 
See Canada, which Boreal blasts assail ; 
Ceylon oft parched with equinoctial gale ; 
Forests, and gold, and corn, Columbia's pride, 
While tea-plants clothe the Assam's mountain's 

side. 
The straits where Singapore the trade divides 
Between two worlds, and queens it o'er the tides 
Of Indian and Pacific Oceans vast — 
The boundless scenes of many a triumph past ; 
And where the Austral heats rich fruits beget ; — 
A diverse realm whereon the sun doth never set." 

1. A prevailing illness. 

2. A favourite singer. 

3. A sea-bird. 

4. A town of Spain. 

5. The act of joining. 

6. A town on the coast of Sardinia. 

7. An exact copy. 

8. The heads of a discourse. 



DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 183 



CCI1. 

The day was bright and sunny, the weekly 'Punch' 
was funny, 
But ' Punch,' with all its charms, for me had no 
temptation ; 
At the dentist's I was waiting, heart and courage 
palpitating, 
And I cared not for the weather, — in sad antici- 
pation. 
Would I were a special pleader ! I would beg the 
gentle reader 
To listen to my pleadings for some mercy to my 
rhyme, 
About the thoughts that, teasing, made me hot and 
kept me freezing, 
Kept me mirthful, kept me mournful, all that 
dreary waiting-time. 
' What spoony moralising ! ' cries the reader, criti- 
cising ; 
But it kept my mind employed till I heard a 
sort of purr, 
And a footman stood beside me, grinning covertly 
yet widely ; 
Then quoth he, with a grin, l Now my master's 
ready, sir ! ' " 

1. A five-stringed instrument. 

2. A collection of people. 

3. A noted poet, eighteenth century. 

4. A clergyman. 

5. A town of Natolia. 

6. Small pincers. 

7. A hunting dog. 



184 DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 



CCIII. 

" Nature denied him much, 
But gave him at his birth what most he values : 
A passionate love for music, sculpture, painting, 
For poetry, the language of the gods, 
For all things here, or grand or beautiful ; 
A setting sun, a lake among the mountains, 
The light of an ingenuous countenance, 
And, what transcends them all, a noble action." 

1. A Grecian, of loud voice. 

2. A merchant of Venice. 

3. Grief. 

4. Obsolete. 

5. An interpreter. 

6. One of the three Fates. 



DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 185 



CCIV. 

With what a look of proud command 
Thou shakest in thy little hand 
The coral rattle, with its silver bells, 
Makiog a merry tune ! 
Thousands of years in Indian seas 
That coral grew by slow degrees, 
Until some deadly and wild monsoon 
Dashed it on Coromandel's sand ! 

Those silver bells 

Reposed of yore, 

As shapeless ore, 
Far down in the deep-sunken wells 
Of darksome mines, 
In some obscure and sunless place, 
Beneath huge Chimborazo's base, 
Or steep Potosi's mountain pines." 

1. A vehicle. 

2. The rising of a planet. 

3. Right of choice. 

4. Rectified spirit. 

5. A Spartan lawgiver. 



186 DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 



CCV. 

« With quickened step 
Brown night retires : young day pours in apace, 
And opens all the lawny prospect wide. 
The dripping rock, the mountain's misty top 
Swell on the sight, and brighten with the dawn.— 



Roused by the cock, the soon-clad shepherd 

leaves 
His mossy cottage, where with peace he dwells ; 
And from the crowded fold, in order, drives 

His flock, to taste the verdure of the morn ! . . 

Low walks the sun, and broadens 

by degrees, 
Just o'er the verge of clay. The shifting clouds 
Assembled gay, a richly gorgeous train, 
In all their pomp attend his setting throne. 
Air, earth, and ocean, smile immense." 

1. The Frenchman's darling. 

2. A decayed town of European Russia. 

3. An irregular excursion. 

4. A kind of light cotton. 

5. An Israelite, a son of Bela. 

6. The act of giving notice. 

7. The inventor of printing. 



DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 187 

CCVI. 

" The Ancient Churches — where are they 1 Their 
candlesticks no more 

Shed beamings bright of blessed light to earth's re- 
motest shore ; 

And wasted are the towers from which, on Sinai's 
castled steep, 

In aftertimes the Christian knight his holy watch 
would keep. 

"And broken are the walls that guard those 
churches' sacred store, 
And feeble are the efforts made their glories to re- 
store j 
Like fragments of a crystal vase, Truth's pearls all 

scattered lie. 
Oh ! melancholy sight, and sad to meet a Chris- 
tian's eye ! " 

1. A headland. 

2. A vernal flower. 

3. To give up. 

4. The distinctive name of a hardy Eng- 

lish king. 

5. Unnecessary. 

6. A city of China, famous for its silks. 

7. One who cleansed the Augean stables. 



188 



DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 



CCVII. 

" A little room with, a rugless floor, 

And the winter blast, 

As it whistles past ; 

A table bare, and one old book, 

In which their eyes grow bright to look ; 
A smouldering fire, and two big chairs, 
A bed for the feeble, brought down stairs. 
And there, in the last faint flicker of life, 
A grey old man and his helpless wife. 

A voiceless choir, a waiting throng 

Eeady to burst in instant song. 

Soon as the word ' Come forth ' is given, 

And their bodies rise to their souls in heaven ! 

Princely among the princely race, 

And near the King, in bright array, 

Sunn'd with the glory of His face, 

"Who are they ? 
Who but the helpless, aged poor, 
Whose coffins passed from a cottage door ! " 



1. A town of Norway. 

2. To retrograde. 

3. A particular kind of hospital. 

4. A town of European Russia. 

5. A musical modulation. 



DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 189 



CCVIII. 

There bloomed two lovely flowers, 

In a sweet and shady dell ; 
Through the summer's balmy hours 

They had graced its beauty well ; 
The soft west wind breathed on them, 

In the calm and stilly air, 
And the bright sun shone upon them 

As they grew in beauty there.' 
Oh ! happy were those flowers, 

In their home of love and light ; 
1 What a merry life is ours ! ' 

Was their chorus day and night." 

1. A dangerous ship. 

2. A Hebrew measure. 

3. Seven and four. 

4. Metallic electricity. 

5. The second mechanical power. 

6. A town of Naples. 

7. A chain of mountains in France. 

8. Practical knowledge. 



190 DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 



CCIX. 

" ' Too late ! too late ! ' sighs the pallid bard, 
As they bring him at last his long coming reward ; 
But Rome was too late, and her triumph was 

marr'd ! 
' Too late ! ' he exclaims, ' take your trophies away, 
Where I go they are crown'd with nor laurel nor 

bay; 
You have reach'd me too late ! — I go hither 

to-day! '" 

" Tuscan, that wanderest through the realms 



of gloom, 
"With thoughtful pace, and sad majestic eyes, 
Stern thoughts and awful from thy soul arise, 
Like Farinata from his fiery tomb. 
Thy sacred song is like the trump of doom ; 
Yet in thy heart what human sympathies, 
What soft compassion glows, as in the skies 
The tender stars their clouded lamps relume ! " 

1. A Jewish book. 

2. A river of Italy, containing gold sand. 

3. A bright luminary. 

4. A blemish. 

5. A weight. 



DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 



191 



ccx. 

" It is a day of triumph, and the brightest of its 
kind ; 

The victory of genius and the mastership of mind ; 

Corinna, the pride of Italy, descends the flower- 
wreathed way, 

For at the proud old capitol she will be crowned 
to-day. 

" Though laurel- wreaths surround her brow, and 

glory lights her name, 
There is a chamber in her heart can ne'er be filled 

by fame ; 
Lonely, amid adoring crowds, she deems, as well 

she may, 
The faithful love of one true heart were better 

worth tban they. 

"And when the crowd is parted, and the festival is 

o'er, 
The many voices silent, and the music heard no 

more ; 
She will think upon the triumph, the splendour 

that is gone, 
As the shadow of a dream, or the echo of a tone." 



1. A fine linen. 

2. To hover about. 

3. A town of Buenos Ay res. 

4. A meeting. 

5. The art of numbering. 

6. A small steel bar. 

7. Being unreasonable. 



192 


DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 




CCXI. 




THE BEE OF GREECE. 


" Greece in their view, and glory yet untouch'd, 


Their steady column pierc'd the scattering herds, 


Which a whole empire pour'd ; and held its way 


Triumphant 


, by the sage-exalted chief 


Eird and sustain' d." 


1. 


A large town of Mexico. 


2. 


An ornamental border. 


3. 


A fabled drink. 


4. 


A bow. 


5. 


Encomium. 


6. 


A friend of David. 


7. 


A river of European Russia. 


8. 


A town in Sussex. 



DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 193 



CCXII. 

" 0, dread and silent mount ! I gazed upon thee 
Till thou, still present to the bodily sense, 
Didst vanish from my thought ; entranced in 

prayer, 
I worshipped the Invisible alone. 
Thou first and chief, sole sovran of the vale, 
Struggling with the darkness all the night, 
And visited all night by troops of stars, 
Or when they climb the sky, or when they sink. 
Companion of the morning star at dawn, 
Thyself earth's rosy star, and of the dawn 
Co-herald ! wake, wake, and utter praise ! 
Who sank thy sunless pillars deep in earth 1 
Who filled thy countenance with rosy light 1 
Who made thee parent of perpetual streams 1 " 

1. An imaginary queen. 

2. A severe trial. 

3. One of the Muses. 

4. A town in Cheshire. 

5. A transparent mineral. 



194 DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 

CCXIII. 

" Oh, Christian, brave Christian, my love wouldst 
thou be 1 
Three things must thou do ere I hearken to thee : 
Our laws and our worship on thee shalt thou take, 
And this thou shalt first do for Zulema's sake. 

" And next in the cavern, where burns evermore 
The mystical flame which the Curdmans adore, 
Alone, and in silence, three nights shalt thou 

wake ; 
And this thou shalt next do for Zulema's sake. 



•"He has thrown by his helmet and cross- 
handled sword, 



Renouncing his knighthood, denying his Lord ; 
He has ta'en the green caftan, and turban put on, 
For the love of the maiden of fair Lebanon." 

1. A small weight. 

2. Exuberant growth. 

3. To loose from intricacy. 

4. A province of the Carnatic. 

5. To go from country to country. 

6. A Roman historian and philosopher. 

7. A noted metaphysician. 

8. A small ship. 

9. A town of Sweden. 

1 0. An instrument of correction. 
1 1 . Intellectual discernment. 



1 

DOUBLE ACKOSTICS. 195 




i 
i 

CCXIV. 


JE CHANTE CE HEROS QUI REGNE SUR LA FRANCE. 


1. 


Part of a book. 


2. 


A trial of causes in law. 


3. 


Silly. 


4. 


Announcement. 


5. 


A small bag. 


6. 


A point of the compass. 


7 


A province of France. 


8. 


An ecclesiastical territory. 


! 9. 


The lowest deck of a ship. 


10. 


A piece of water. 


11. 


A pure element. 


12. 


A city of Portugal. 


13. 


A seaman. 




ccxv. 


A 


REMARKABLE CHINAMAN. 


1. 


The name of the man. 


2. 


A Mahometan pilgrimage. 


3. 


A Greek letter. 


4. 


A town of France, the birthplace of 




Calvin. 


5. 


A description of the man. 




N 2 



196 DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 



CCXVI. 

" It was a place 
Chosen by the Sovereign Maker, when he framed 
All things to man's delightful use : the roof, 
Of thickest covert was, inwoven shade, 
Laurel and myrtle, and what higher grew 
Of firm and fragrant leaf ; on either side 
Acanthus, and each odorous bushy shrub, 
Fenced up the verdant wall ; each beauteous 

flower, 
Iris all hues, roses and jessamine, 
Eear'd high their flourished heads between, and 

wrought 
Mosaic ; under foot the violet, 
Crocus, and hyacinth, with rich inlay 
Broider'd the ground, more colour'd than with 

stone 
Of costliest emblem." 



1 . The horns of a stag. 

2. Extremely pleased. 

3. A very ugly animal. 

4. .An agreeable harmony. 





DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 197 




CCXVII. 




NAVAL AND MILITARY BATTLES. 




1. A student in physics. 

2. A superstitious charm against agues. 

3. A Roman poet. 

4. A town of the Carnatic. 




5. A small town of European Russia. 

6. To entwine. 




7. Abraham's brother. 




8. A collection of musicians. 




CCXVIII. 


THE CONTENTS OF THIS BOOK, AND WHAT IT IS 
WISHED TO BE. 


1. 


A large island in the West Indies. 


2. 
3. 


A particular kind of verse. 
A town of Prussia. 


4. 
5. 


A noted mountain of European Turkey. 
A seaport of Sicily remarkable for its 
catacombs. 


6. 


Limit. 


7. 
8. 


To imprison. 

A celebrated general who ruled the 




Athenians. 


9. 


Still and quiet. 



198 DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 



CCXIX. 

" The fountain in its source 

No drought of summer fears ; 

The farther it pursues its course 
The nobler it appears. 

But shallow cisterns yield 
A scanty, short supply ; 

The morning sees them amply filled, 

At evening they are dry." 

1. A rule of action. 

2. The daughter of Agamemnon. 

3. A deceptive speaker. 

4. Want of worth or meaning. 

5. A river in Germany. 

6. Superficial lustre. 

ccxx. 
Courage in arms, and ever prompt to show 
Their manly foreheads to the fiercest foe ; 
Glorious in war." 

1. Charity. 

2. Excellent in a supreme degree. 

3. A Chinese nobleman. 

4. A parish in Yorkshire. 

5. One who frets. 

6. One of the Graces. 

7. A bell for trapping birds. 

8. An instrument for cutting. 



DOUBLE ACROSTICS. 199 




CCXXI. 


" Such is the love that reigns around, 


In palace, hall, or cot, 


The looks that beam, the words that sound, 


The joy that decks the spot : 


The 


hymn floats softly through the vale, 


The scent of flowers is in the gale, 


Combining joy and summer sun, 


Perfume and music, all in one. 


This 


is the time so long foreseen, 


When ages roll their years between ; 


Oh! 


may it be an endless reign, 


Nor earth know other rule again!" 


1. 


Penal anguish. 


2. 


Natural vigour of faculties. 


3. 


A fabulous region in South America. 


4. 


A female political writer. 


5. 


A wading bird. 


6. 


A thin plate. 


7. 


A painter's fig ire. 


8. 


To transcend. 


9. 


A branch of historical science. 


10. 


Distinguished for good management. 


11. 


Indisposition to move. 


12. 


A violent disturbance. 


13. 


A small herbaceous plant. 



200 



DOUBLE ACKOSTICS. 




k£#>- 



FINIS. 

1. An article. 

2. A Persian noble. 

3. Conclusion. 




GEOGKAPHICAL 


LIST. 


Adriatic 


Birmingham 


Delos 


Abacu 


Bagdad 


Danilov 


Arno 


Baranov 


Delaware 


Altenau 


Bahia 


Danube 


America 


Benaru 




Attrebatii 


Berga 


Esla 


Arcop 


Babylon 


Epping 


Aleppo 


Baibai 


Eglwserw 


Ai 


Bethesda 


Edolo 


Agrimonti 


Bannockburn 


Estrella 


Ardatov 


Bulac 


Estardi 


Athens 




Echardsau 


Antigua 


Carbu 


Exe 


Aldorf 


Corfu 


Eflani 


Arapijo 


Cairo 


Eda 


Adda 


Cagliari 


En-gedi 


Ayoayo 


Corinth 


Euripo 


Arcadia 


Caroni 


Ezdoud 


Abb 


Carthage 


England 


Askelon 


Carnatic 


Elischau 


Alps 


Cuba 


Egeberg 


Apo 


China 


Eu 


Antwerp 


Canaan 


Ebenau 


Aouste 


Chester 


Exuma 


Attariff 


Charybdis 


Edko 


Alabama 




Edinburgh 


Alifi 


Duppau 


Ellar 



202 


GEOGRAPHICAL 


LIST. 


Eisgrub 


Idumea 


Jarrow 


Egakto 
Elimo 


Inichi 
India 


Jugnac 
Jordan 


Erro 


Idle 


Jagerndorf 


Erie 


Isaczi 


Jerusalem 


Ephesus 


Hfra combe 


Java 


Egli 

Evanwoocl 


Itri 
Istepec 


Kama 


Emboli 
Ergane 


Ixtepexi 
Itharo 


Kyno 
Kenilworth 


Fontarabia 
Florence 


Igal 
Iglo 

Iturea 


Kapsdorf 
Kishtac 


Grunau 

Galas o 

Golgotha 

Greece 

Grezzano 

Gaza 


Invergowrie 

Isago 

Itata 

Illori 

Ingraham 

Idria 

Ilkuch 


Langenau 

Lewisham 

Loretto 

Libau 

Liff 

Laktho 

Lima 


Hotchou 


Iona 


Lauf 


Hainau 


Idro 


Lethe 


Hoedic 


Ivica 


Laredo 


Harso 


Ibi 


Leutmischel 


Hungary 


Ilantz 


Lesignau 


Hamra 


Ilinski 


Loxa 


Haddo 


Indiana 


Laiszev 


Harnish 


Irwell 


Landau 


Irati 
Iguatu 


Irvine 
Ithaca 
Iguazu 


Labapi 

Leyderdam 

Lisbon 





GEOGRAPHICAL 


LIST. 203 


Langwall 


Nubia 


Osacca 


Laab 


Narym 


Odessa 


Lichfield 


Novogorod 


Oreehona 


Lindau 


Negapatam 


Offenbach 


Ladago 


Nab 


Oppido 




Nagamangalam 


Ohio 


Mareb 


Nuslau 


Otranto 


Manchester 


Nelloor 


Obendorf 


Malaga 


Nova Scotia 


Oronoco 


Madrid 


Nisi 


Oliva 


Mohli 


Nairn 


Olympus 


Malakhoff 


Nieuwkoop 


Oviedo 




Noorri 


Onega 


Nepi 


Neva 


Obojau 


Nineveh 


Nasca 


Osterby 


Neva 


Nevis 


Owasco 


Noyon 




Orchilla 


Naples 


Oczakov 


Ortenau 


Niemierow 


Oka 


Ottmachau 


Neston 


Orthosa 


Oswego 


Ningo 


Otaha 


Otterburn 


T^enagh 


Orlov 


Oaka 


Nova Zembla 


Okra 




Nuneaton 


Orovesi 


Piedmont 


Niagara 


Ottojano 


Paris 


Neisdenau 


Ortyggia 


Philippi 


Nagal 


Obi 


Pe-tche-li 


Noli 


Ombo 


Poland 


Newhaven 


Otchakov 




Nuddea 


Ohrnbau 


Eeichenau 


Narni 


Oldrau 


Rosario 



204 


GEOGRAPHICAL 


LIST. 


Russia 


Soissons 


Ugento 


Retusari 


Scotland 


Ujheli 


Ruswarp 


Syria 


Udina 


Ramilies 


Stanco 


Ukenskoi 


Riga 






Rostorf 


Tivoli 


Varna 


Rosenau 


Thetford 


Vosges 


Ruislip 


Talavera 


VaUadolid 


Rodi 


Thur 


Vienna . 


Rossano 


Thames 




Rona 


Tweed 


Walthamstow 


Ragusa 


Turin 


Westport 


Rhembac 


Troy 


"Winniki 


Regnosa 


Tyre 


Wapattoo 


Rostov 


Tsi-nan-fou 


"Winchester 


Ruyo 


Thibet 




Rathenau 


Tabor 


Xalapa 


Rimini 


Tai 




Riblah 


Tarpou 


Yale 
Yo 


Sinai 


Uri 


Yamina 


Salamanca 


Udipu 


Yester 


Sparta 


Uxo 


Yatley 


Scinde 


Upsal 


Yscar 


Solferino 


Ustica 


Yaxley. 



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H 

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